Forgotten
by Mable
Summary: He couldn't understand why they left him behind, why he was destined to be alone, why they left him... Or more importantly, why he left him... Nine is about to discover that he left something behind that is very important. Something that is about to change his, and the others', lives forever.
1. Prologue

**Mable: It's a change for me and just a small fic to get me to start updating more again. I won't say anything about the fic, except please read the second author note at the end, after reading the fic. I don't own **_**9, **_**I own a few dolls though, and a new computer. :) Enjoy!**

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_**Forgotten**_

His life seemed to go on forever in this endless cycle of repeating days. Sitting in this almost completely dilapidated house on the floor with a shred of cloth being used to drape over his shoulders. The fabric wasn't enough to keep him warm though, but did feel nice and soft on his burlap. He absentmindedly played with the zipper that dangled from his front and softly sighed. Someday they would come back, and he would be waiting for them, for _him. _Until then he realized that he would have to find something more to put on and looked around to gather some cloth to attempt to sew into something. The long time he had been here he picked up sewing somewhat and was able to stitch a little bit, even though not perfectly.

The cloth he gathered was mere scraps, but there were needles and thread in on the table nearby, he always knew where they were. Then he suddenly found his thoughts going back to _him _again. If _he _was here then _he _could help him stitch something to keep him warm. _He _could keep him warm. But _he _wasn't here. No, the Stitchpunk was all alone, and he hated it so much, as much as he hated waiting. Going back to work was the only way to keep the thoughts out of his head. Eventually he found enough long scraps of fabric and climbed onto the table so that he could stitch them. Something was there, it only reminded him of _him, _and so he didn't look in its direction as he sat himself down on a book and tried to thread the needle.

It took a few tries to get the thread to cooperate and then he began to sew the cuts of fabric together. They weren't all the same color, but were mostly shades of brown and dark greens that seemed to at least tolerate each other. He liked green a lot, it was his favorite color, but he wasn't sure why. At least it would work and would help ease him from the icy cold coming from outside. That thought turned his attention to the open window behind him that had its shutters slowly easing more and more open. The Stitchpunk sighed, sat his work down, and crossed to the window to peer out. He looked out into the dilapidated world and let out a small almost soundless sigh as he saw nothing but an empty world. Also, he was looking for _him._

_He _still wasn't here, and neither were the others, and the Stitchpunk was stuck standing on a window edge looking out for him. Though the chances of being seen by anything other than a beast were slim so he moved back and slowly, careful not to fall, closed the shutters and erased the outside world completely. He didn't need it if _he _wasn't there. Then he turned around, stepped across a couple of books, and headed to his spot where he began to once again sew his scrapes of cloth. It was then that he remembered how lonely he was here. Sometimes he thought out loud just to hear a voice and have the silence be broken apart. Sometimes it caused him to have moments of fear when he believed that he'd be alone forever.

He knocked those away; _he _was coming, soon. The Stitchpunk decided to take another break from sewing to find something to calm him down. That's when he actually decided to look through the books scattered about. The problem was, saving that he had seen through them before, he had trouble reading them. They were all written in a way he didn't understand and weren't like how he wrote. He could write though and once practiced in the bottom of a book, scribbling something among the lines of 'the sun is hot' or something. In the books though, it was as though it was backwards, the words were scrambled to mean different things that he couldn't understand. So instead he sought out pictures that he could stare at and smile from seeing them.

The pictures were perfect, but usually didn't have color and there weren't very many of them. They caused the Stitchpunk to have more questions, such as; "Did the world used to look like that?", "What is that thing?", and "Why did _he _leave me?". He closed his optics to smother that one thought that he smothered repeatedly. Though it was an honest question; why did _he_, and the others, leave him forgotten? They left him behind and now he was destined to wait for them as long as it took before _he _came back. But _he_ would be back, eventually, and the Stitchpunk knew it. He flipped through one of the books a little but found it to have no pictures and decided to again return to sewing as he was getting colder by the second.

It turned into something like a cape that would drape all over his body instead of just in the front. As he was on his last few stitches he stopped when he thought he heard something, his audio receptors attempted to hear it again as he went still. The noise didn't occur again and the Stitchpunk assumed that it was his mind playing tricks again, especially when he heard _his _voice raising into the room and circling him in a haunting manner, it couldn't be true though. What was the real luck of any of them returning to him as he waited here at the place they were born? Looking over he saw what had held them, he saw it in the notes left behind, and felt a rising feeling of sadness. Then the voice returned and he even heard footsteps.

Closing his metal hands over his audio receptors, the Stitchpunk blocked out the fake noise as his thoughts screamed at him. He just couldn't understand and just wished that _he _was here to comfort him and save him from this reality. That was when he tugged his hands away and listened as the sounds began to grow quieter. Only then did he realize, in hope and horror, that they weren't in his mind. Everything was dropped and discarded as the Stitchpunk let out a soft cry that could only be known as joy. _He _had finally come back for him. The Stitchpunk ran to the door and slipped out to head downstairs, only to hear the noises were gone, _he _had left. There had to be a way to reach _him. _He didn't want to be alone anymore.

Running back inside the dilapidated room, he climbed back onto the table. The Stitchpunk ignored the cloth he had sewn, the needle, nearly tripped over the thread, stumbled over the books, and flew to the window where he pushed the shutters open to look down and see.

It hadn't been in his mind. There were the Stitchpunks walking away right now. In the back, behind them, lingering behind, was _him. _He could clearly see his number.

It was _him, _it was Nine, it was his twin.

The Stitchpunk cried out and attempted to reach them, but his voice was quiet from so long without use. They were walking away and he couldn't do anything but watch as Nine left him again. When they were born, when his rope snapped before Nine's and he fell off the table, was the first time he was left behind. Then he wasn't in the room the second time Nine came. Here was the third time, and Nine was forgetting him again, his own twin, his other half. The Stitchpunk thought he saw Nine stop or turn around, but was already stumbling inside with sobs wracking his frame. The Stitchpunk couldn't understand why he was made like this, why his brother kept leaving him, or why he was to be alone forever. It didn't make any sense to him.

He stumbled over a book and hit the ground roughly only to let out another cry of angst and curl into himself. Because he knew the truth now; he was nothing to Nine, nothing to the others, unnumbered nothing.

Nothing but forgotten

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**Mable: Short, I know, but I didn't know what else to add and wrote it late last night. Perhaps cliché too, but I just wanted to post my own version. I was just thinking of a 'what if' and wasn't planning on adding more unless someone really wants more. If not, I'm just going to leave it like this. I would also like to add that this fic too goes along with the 'Life Giving Rain' in which the Stitchpunks are returned to their body and doing pretty good. ^-^ Enough of me, I hope you enjoyed! If you have the time, please review!**


	2. Chapter One: What Nine left behind

**Mable: Thanks to the positive reviews, I've decided to continue! I'll put the extra detail in the Author's Note at the end. I would really like to thank everyone for the support and I hope I was able to do some justice on this new chapter! Enjoy!**

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_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter One: What Nine left behind…_

Life was at least a little easier now that the others were alright again. The rain saved them, somehow, and the only turmoil after that was just to get everyone fixed. The least hurt was Eight who somehow survived the factory explosion intact, probably something metal fell on him and shielded him, and he was immediately helping his leader manage. The next was Five who just had to replace his patch, an easy feat once Two was able to fix it. Then Six somehow managed to climb out of that trench with an injured ankle that had to be snapped and popped back into place. One's hand was repaired by Two and Five and was now working, even though it looked a little different. The most difficult was when Five and One had to fix Two's legs, it took some time to do, but they succeeded.

Sometimes, just like now, Nine felt badly that he wasn't one of them that got injured. He felt guilty, but could smother it to help the others. Needless to say, he decided to step down from being leader, but he could tell that One was at least somewhat changed as he seemed to not be acting tyrant like anymore. "Nine, don't fall behind or a beast will get you!" That didn't mean One was any less One-like. The leader was helping Two walk as the Inventor was having a tough time after his replacement. Five claimed he shouldn't have been able to walk yet and yet here Two was, struggling, and chuckling a bit when he tripped. It was great to see at least someone here wasn't scarred for life. They were alive and that was all that mattered.

As for Nine, he had been feeling odd now, ever since the others came back. It was this feeling that he could describe except for when he thought of heading back to the 'first room'. The feeling that something was off, that there was something he just couldn't understand in his mind, bothering him and pressing at him. That's when he noticed Five slowing down, "Nine, are you okay? You've been quiet." This wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Five himself but it was for his friend. "Yeah," Nine murmured, "I'm… Fine. I'm fine. I just was thinking." They were almost at the library which they agreed on having as a temporary home until they could find something like the Cathedral. At this point they just had to pass the one place Nine didn't want to see.

"Remember One? When it was just us living in that big, empty house?" Two asked fondly as he looked up at the dilapidated home that was once the Scientist's Workshop. One seemed to suddenly look a bit depressed while Two just looked nostalgic. They held it well though and neither noticed Nine looking pitifully at the house. It was as though it lingered over him, telling him that he did something wrong, something more than awaking the Fabrication Machine. Looking to the top he could see the window he first looked out of when he saw the world and then his stitched eyebrows moved closer in confusion. He noticed the window tugged shut and was sure that he had left it open. "Five, that window is shut." He pointed at said window accusingly.

The healer shrugged a bit, "Maybe the wind? It's strong this time of year." By now the others were continuing on and Nine looked at them for a second before deciding to do something out of curiosity. He suddenly began to climb the stairs of the once beautiful house. Once halfway ascended, Five called, "Nine, where are you going?" Nine stopped at that second, "I…" He suddenly had a flash of how his curiosity awoke that horrific machine and turned back to the healer, "Nowhere." He headed back down the steps and started back to the others. One made sure to stop, turn around, and just glare at Nine. Or Nine thought he was glaring, it was hard to tell with those slanted optics. While Five rushed ahead to help Two again, Nine started to fall behind.

There was this weird feeling in his insides and his hands clasped over his zipper in an attempt the stem it. It didn't help and he looked at the ground before him to force himself to walk. Then he heard it. It sounded like barely anything at all, like it was just the wind itself, but it sounded like a voice. Slowly Nine looked back to the window and was in shock as he swore he saw something move. Not only that, but the window was now open again. He tried to reason that it was just the wind, but something inside told him it wasn't. He knew he wouldn't be able to convince the others to turn around when they were so tired, so he ignored it for now, and continued along.

* * *

The point of ignoring is to get it off of your mind, but Nine never had luck ignoring what he saw at the First Room. It was dark out now and they had finally made it to the library where the others were making beds. He had to talk to someone, because this was tearing him apart. He decided that, because Five was busy, maybe he should ask someone who wasn't. This led to Two who was now resting in a bed, awake though, and still in a good mood as he said something to Eight who was passing. Nine approached him slowly, "Two… Could we talk?" Two seemed delighted to have someone who wasn't busy wanting to speak, "Of course, sit down." He suggested, gesturing to his bed and moving over enough that Nine could sit on it.

"I have a problem. It sound strange, but I really think it's important." The younger started as he settled himself down in a sitting position. "You see, when we were at the First Room, I got this weird feeling like I forgot something again. The window upstairs was closed and I hadn't closed it. So I went up the steps but decided not to because of the Fa- You know. Then, when I was coming back to the others, I heard something and looked back at the window. It was open and I thought I saw something. I don't know if it's in my head or not. I can't get it out of my head though." He explained in a rush before falling silent. Two nodded a bit, "I see." He seemed to think for a second and Nine awaited an answer from him.

"It could be your imagination." Two suggested, "The wind is opening and closing the window and you, worried that you left something behind as you did before, thought you saw something which was really a shadow by the door. You are afraid of doing anything to cause what happened to happen again and subconsciously you are overcorrecting yourself. This is understandable, even though it wasn't your fault it is normal to feel at least some guilt." Two explained and Nine nodded. "However," Two began again, and Nine looked at him, "There is a possibility that it could be something. I can't stop the feelings that tell you there is something there. It is something that you yourself can silence. Only you."

"How?" Nine asked desperately and Two looked down before speaking, "I think you headed out to look for the twins, but I don't remember what direction you went in." The younger looked confused, "When?" Now Two smiled, "When One asks me where you went." There was a second of realization and Nine smiled, "I'll be back as soon as I can." Two nodded, "Just be careful and make sure you aren't out in the open at all." Nine agreed and quickly raced out of the library while the Inventor leaned back against his bed. He hoped he didn't make a mistake, but he trusted Nine, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Nine ran the entire way and didn't feel tired the slightest. It was strange, but Nine felt so invigorated, even though it was very dark and he could barely see his hand in front of his face. However, somehow, he got back to the First Room, and only then did he stop. Suddenly the building looked to be looming overhead, dark, and menacing. He forced himself forward even though his mind told him to go back. He was beginning to fear the dark and imagined a red light to spring out from somewhere and chase him down. Fortunately, this didn't happen, and he headed up the stairs to the Workshop. Entering the Workshop he found it very eerie and realized that he wished he would've brought Five, or Seven, or at this point he would've carried Two with him.

He looked around the empty Workshop and began to slowly cross through. "Hello?" The second his voice broke the silence he heard a soft noise from on the workbench. He looked up and thought he saw something disappearing like before, so he immediately went to climb onto it. He looked through the darkness and then could see the window, closed completely, and crossed to it, passing a tall lump of rags. As he looked it over he started to remember something and pushed at the wood, it was heavy, so heavy that he realized wind couldn't have moved it so easily. Then he spun around only to stare in alarm, letting out a short cry, because the lump of rags was now standing behind him. It was really some sort of rag covering over something.

The something stepped back almost fearfully though stood there still without moving. There really was something there, Nine was right, and he came closer, "Hello?" He asked again and now the other winced a bit, it began cowering, it was interested but obviously fearful. It almost reached out but stopped itself and pulled its hands back. Its hands looked like a Stitchpunk's and Nine realized it had to be another Stitchpunk. At this time it began to stumble back to get away from him, seemingly confused, and Nine came closer. "It's okay. I won't hurt you." He reached out only to have the other turn to run, but he managed to grab it's covering, only succeeding in causing it to trip and fall. It managed to get to its feet quickly and ran yet again

There was no way that Nine was going to let it get away and started to sprint afterwards. He didn't realize how close the edge was, or how the other was to suddenly stop on the edge, and Nine crashed into the other Stitchpunk. They went tumbling over off of the Workbench and onto the hard floor below. The two weren't injured even though it hurt quite a bit. By now Nine was able to stop the other as he got him cornered against the Workbench's leg, "Please, I'm not going to hurt you, just calm down." The other didn't run, under the rags it looked at him, now less afraid, as though it just awoke from a sleep. Nine reached forward to touch the other's arm and was rewarded with the other creature touching it in disbelief.

It stared at the hand and couldn't believe that it was real, that this wasn't a hallucination, that he was really here. "What's your name?" Nine asked and noticed when the other didn't respond. Maybe this one hadn't seen his number yet. He was tempted to reach around and tug the cloth away to see, but decided against it. Instead he stood and helped the other to its feet, "I have to get you back to the others." He could feel its hesitation as he tried to tug it along and decided to take after Two. He put his arm around the other's shoulders, took his hand, and led him towards the exit. "It'll be okay. You're safe now." It was the first time that Nine actually felt whole, there was something he couldn't explain, and it led him to the one in his arms. Like he knew the Stitchpunk somehow.

* * *

Two began to awaken slowly only to notice a pair of slanted optics on him. He jumped a bit, but regained himself, "One, you frightened me, but you have a tendency to do that." He teased and One huffed, "At least you are actually resting for once." He looked around, "Where is Nine?" Two immediately voiced his story, "Well, he said he was going to go look for the twins, but I'm not sure which way he went." The leader circled him slowly, "I thought you would. Eight said you were talking to him." Two paused and One growled, "He went out, didn't he?" Two couldn't answer for a second. "What was he thinking?" One hissed and Two spoke, "Oh no, he didn't leave, he might be with the twins." The leader scoffed, "I was just with the twins."

"That doesn't mean-." As Two started to sit up he felt a pain in his legs, and hissed, laying back onto the bed. He could see One looking back at him and forced a smile, "Still a little achy. But about Nine, I think he's just walking around somewhere, he wants some time alone." He noticed One begin to tug the blankets down and feel over his legs. He was murmuring about how they were doing well and began to massage the fabric. Two had an idea of what One was doing but still enjoyed the feeling. "He had to have told you something." One persuaded and Two chuckled, "One, if you want me to say Nine went out into the Emptiness, I will not." Now the leader smirked, "So you admit it?" Two retorted, "I never said that."

A pause, One was watching him, and Two stretched a bit, "That feels very nice, One." His voice was a purr and at this the hands stopped. Two looked at One, One stared back, silence, nothing, and then One was moving closer. Two watched him climb on top of him and could think of nothing except how much he wanted this. So familiar, so nice, so One-like, sudden and yet there it was, wanted. Their lips pressed against each other and they began to stroke each other's arms. Then the moment was shattered by Five's voice, "I think I see Nine outside!" There was a small pause, still locked at the lips, but unmoving. Then One tugged back, "Went to go see the twins, you thought I would believe such nonsense?"

Two guilt showed through a small smile and One moved off of him. They both despised halting themselves, but they had to. Two managed to stand and resisted One's look that told him to stop. The second that mouth opened to scold, he spoke up, "I'm fine. If I could walk here I think I can stand for a few minutes." Just in case, he took One's arm as they crossed to the entrance. They noticed immediately that Nine wasn't alone. Nine was still attempting to guide the other Stitchpunk who wouldn't talked and still acted hesitant and scared. "It's okay." Nine repeated, "The others are there and they'll protect you too." The other looked at him and in the dark Nine couldn't see much except for a light reflecting off his optics.

Looking over, Nine saw the light was coming from a match being carried by Five who was running towards him. He somewhat noticed when the Stitchpunk by his side huddled behind him. The healer made it over, "Nine, are you okay? You disappeared!" Nine smiled, "I went back to the First Room." Then he noticed that he could feel the other's head resting against his shoulder and gestured back to him, "And I brought someone back with me." Five was surprised to see that there was another Stitchpunk there, "Oh…" He then smiled a little, shyly, "H-Hello." Nine felt the one behind him disappear down against his lower back where he just hovered there. There was a pause, "He's a little shy." Nine pointed out, "I have to get him inside."

That's when he felt the hand tracing along his '9', stroking it, following it, and he wondered what the other's number was. He led the other Stitchpunk inside with Five and quickly recited his story in the short distance to the library. Once inside, Nine was immediately confronted, "Where have you been?" One demanded and Nine immediately went into defense, "I know I left, but it was important. I-." By now One was ignoring him completely, circling around him to see the one who just happened to peek out at the wrong time. "What did you do?" Nine didn't answer, somewhat guilty, because he could certainly remember what he didn't do earlier. Now Two came up, "Well look whose back." He smiled and then also noticed the Stitchpunk.

"And who might this be?" He smothered his curiosity and decided to instead approach slowly, as he could plainly see the rag covered Stitchpunk trembling under One's gaze. He got before One, the leader looking quite offended, and Two reached forward. The unnamed Stitchpunk flinched back behind Nine and Two continued closer, "Don't worry. I won't come too close if you don't want me to." The other Stitchpunk slowly started to come back out from behind Nine and Two managed to touch his arm and lead him out. Immediately he was studying his hands, and One turned to Nine, questioning him. He wasn't the only questioning one though. The unnumbered Stitchpunk was now realizing that this wasn't a hallucination.

"_He… He came back for me…"_ He felt himself smile joyfully, _"He came back! He came back and there he is!... Where is he going?_" He couldn't control the panic he felt as Nine wandered One deeper into the library while he was stuck here. Perhaps Two could feel the trembles and could see how he looking in Nine's ever disappearing direction. He smiled, "He's not leaving, he's probably going to go tell the others." Two now led him along the same route that the others had gone. He only stopped him when they reached a candle, "May I check your number?" No response and Two slowly tugged the rags up so he could see the number. He couldn't say he wasn't surprised when there wasn't one. "That's strange. It seems you never were given a number."

Now curiosity overtook and Two tugged the rest of the rags off, to the surprise of the Stitchpunk, and soon to the surprise of him and Five. Because the Stitchpunk that stood before them had quite the unexpected appearance. Meanwhile, Nine was explaining to Seven and the others about his findings. "I thought I saw something earlier. I don't think I could've handled forgetting something else." Six nodded from his spot a few feet away, but said nothing, almost as though he knew about what was occurring. Now Nine was wondering exactly what Six was trying to tell him about what he left in the First Room, perhaps it was this Stitchpunk and not the message from the Scientist. That's when the others finally entered and Nine was stared past.

Seven never looked shocked, no matter what she kept calm as though she expected what was to occur, and only a few times did any sort of shock show. Now though he could clearly see it and turned around only to see it. The Stitchpunk he found, it was obviously it, and it was a mirror of himself. Everything, from hands to zipper, was precisely the same. He looked distressed though, confused, unused to others, and he spoke. It was as though Nine himself was talking, even as he took in the single sentence, "Why did you leave me?"

It was odd how a single sentence could cause a whole room fall into silence. Nine himself had no idea what to say, especially when confronted by the one who looked just like him, who said that he had left him when he had no idea who he was. "I think," Two began, "That this must be some sort of accident." Obviously, but the Stitchpunk still stared at Nine, with this horribly saddened look. It looked absolutely heartbroken, "You left me… You forgot me…" Nine choked, "I don't… I don't understand. I don't know who you are." The other male looked down sadly and Nine tried to figure out anything to say. The other spoke again though, his voice popping and crackling, "We were together… T-Then it broke… It broke and I fell… And you left me."

The words made barely any sense to Nine until One spoke, "You two were born together?" He asked, angled at Three and Four who nodded, and then it sort of was understandable now. With everyone else barely speaking, Two decided to state his opinion, "Nine… I think our friend here might be your twin." Nine somewhat stepped and stumbled back, "My… But I don't-." The Inventor dismissed his denial, "You might have not known it, since he must have fell, before you both awoke." It seemed plausible and the others seemed to nod, "So you have a twin." Seven reasoned to a still stunned Nine. It was sudden and appeared so fast that he was in a bit of a daze, but it wasn't as sudden as what happened next.

All the air was knocked from Nine as suddenly the other Stitchpunk's weight crashed into him. Arms wrapped around him and Nine looked down to see his twin's frame. "You left… You left…" It was as though it was all he could say until he stopped himself, "But you came back." As he muttered the words over and over again, Five spoke, "How long was he alone?" Two sighed, "All those days that we had to recover before we came here… He was alone the entire time." Suddenly Nine felt badly and reached out to embrace the one that looked like him. It felt right, suddenly a hole in Nine's heart was filled by this Stitchpunk, perhaps he was his twin brother. "And his name?" One asked expectantly and Two chuckled, "He's missing a number. He doesn't have a name." He chuckled, "But I can remedy."

Two thought for a second, "Perhaps Ten? He is the tenth Stitchpunk." A few of the others agreed, but One disagreed, "No. Then he would also have a One. Everyone would think we are related." Seven asked the question that the others were all thinking, "Everyone who? There's only us." One scoffed, "Well it still won't do." Two decided to calm the situation, "That was just a first offer. Maybe Zero?" Still One seemed displeased, "Zero doesn't count. It comes before the other numbers." That's when Two perked up, "Wait, I have it now, how about Ninety-Nine?" The others just stared, watching in confusion, and Two laughed a bit, "I was just fooling with you! Come now, I can think of something better."

One was losing patience and now the twins were coming in closer to look over Nine's twin. He stood still, watching them circle cautiously, and by now had released Nine who was smiling at the scene. The others were slowly moving in and Six came closer, murmuring to himself about 'no number'. Hearing it perked Two and he looked at One who was now dreading the next words. "I've got it! He has no number. There is none number." The leader huffed in exasperation, "There is _no_ number. Not, there is _none _number." The inventor ignored him, "Either way. As is numbers, there is none, and it just happens to go with Nine. We could call him 'None'." One decided that voicing anything would do nothing as he was being blocked out by the others anyway, so he stayed quiet.

"That could be it, it is better than just calling him 'it' or 'him'." Two smiled triumphantly, "So what do you think, None?" He purposely stretched the last word out so that the other Stitchpunk would hear it. None, he reasoned it in his head, but wasn't accustomed to talking so he answered with a pleased smile. Nine voiced it softly, "None…" It certainly did go with Nine. It should too, since they were twins. He couldn't remember what happened before, but that was over now, now they were together again and he was safe. It was only going to get better from here. Now Two decided to introduce everyone, "I'm Two. I'm very pleased to meet you." He patted Five on the shoulder, "This is Five." Five smiled, "We kind of met earlier." He pointed out shyly.

"This is Six." He gestured to the striped one who waved a little with one of his pen tipped hands, "Hello." Seven then spoke, "I'm Seven, and this is Three and Four." She placed a hand on their heads in a loving manner and the younger Stitchpunks were pleased by the affection. Then Two spoke again, "That is Eight," He gestured to Eight who was standing behind Six, "I'm sure you know Nine." Two chuckled and then fell silent, on purpose, before speaking, "Oh, and that's One." He added in at the end just to taunt One who rewarded this with another glare. A small playful smile was given in return before Two looked back to None, "Most important, how are you feeling? When you fell, did you get hurt?"

None spoke quietly, "I'm tired." Two touched his arm, "Yes, yes, of course. How about you get some rest? It is quite late." None nodded slowly in agreement, but looked quite lost, so Nine decided to help him by leading him to a more quiet section of their temporary sanctuary. He was able to gather enough scraps of fabric along the way to make a makeshift bed for None, ignoring the fact he himself wouldn't have a bed tonight. "Here," He gestured to the bed and at first the other just looked at it, "You need to get some sleep. It was a good walk over here from the First Room." None finally decided to lie down, tugging one piece over his frame, somewhat wondering where his rag covering had gotten to. As Nine started to walk off, None felt true horror, "Don't go!"

He reached for the other as he had a flash of Nine leaving and never coming back, and Nine was startled by the sudden cry. Immediately he went to make None feel better and crouched beside him, "I won't go if you don't want me to." He reassured and began to embrace his twin yet again. While None feared going to sleep, fearing waking up to being alone again, he felt so exhausted that he could no longer stay awake. He held onto Nine for dear life while Nine stroked his back, "You're with me now. I'm going to make sure nothing ever hurts you." The drive to protect his twin was odd; he just met him and yet he felt connected at the soul.

Together, finally, and nothing would split them.

* * *

**Mable: So that's the first chapter! I'll try to update soon, but it probably won't be immediately, so that's why I put this up now instead of waiting until I had more done. The little Stitchpunk needed some sort of love now. :) About the name, I did go through a few of them, but I wanted something extra original so I tried 'None'. I don't know if anyone else used None yet, if so, I'm not stealing anything, the name was meant to sound as close to Nine's as possible. Lastly, about the 1x2, I'm might have a minor thing about them later on, so if you don't like it you can always just bypass it, though I honestly hope nobody has to do that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I will try to update as fast as possible!**


	3. Chapter Two: Adjusting to the Library

**Mable: Here's chapter two! It's going to be harder to write since I have family at my house, but I'm going to try my best. I'd like to thank SkullWitch57, BXE, and Athena Eudialyte Vewlpoer for reading and reviewing. I also would like to thank xXBroken-Wings-ForeverXx, or xXBWFXx, and 27's Fury for being so supportive through all my fics. Just to make this clear, this is not the last chapter, I just wanted to thank everyone who has liked the story so far. I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter Two: Adjusting to the Library_

It was morning by the way that the light was shining through a hole in the ceiling and peering right into Nine's optics. He groaned and blocked it lazily with his hand. That's when he felt the warmth on his back and could feel two hands pressed to his back as though to make him stay close. It was obviously None and Nine rolled over to hold his twin. His twin; it was still somewhat bizarre to say the words, somehow he had a twin brother. There was a sort of childish joy that filled him too. Five would always be his best friend, but now he would have someone just like him to do things with. He didn't know what they could do yet, but whatever it was, it would have to be worthwhile. They would be like Three and Four, so close that they were never alone.

Nine was willing to share everything and guide None to learn while being as patient as possible. So he decided to start by slowly shaking None softly, "None? It's morning." It took a few seconds for the other to awaken and immediately he looked somewhat surprise. Then he smiled wide, happily, "Hello." He said softly and Nine smiled just as wide now, "Good morning." He slowly sat up and started to stand, helping None to his feet. He began to lead him through the library, "I don't know where the others are, they're probably sleeping somewhere else." He began rambling about random things to his twin who just smiled and listened with all of his attention. Finally Nine decided to help the others by looking for useful things, while teaching None as much as he could, and doing both at once.

"Like that desk." He pointed to a large overturned desk nearby, "It probably has useful things in it that we can use." He beckoned None as he headed over to the desk, determined to find something to help the other Stitchpunks. He tugged open a sideways drawer and began to sift, "See? This is a…" He removed what looked almost like a sharp pointed object or a relatively dull knife. "I don't know, but I'm sure Two knows what it's used for." He handed it to None and watched as the other looked over in closely before going back into the drawer, "Here's some paper, but it's wrote all over, and let's see if this is what I think it is." He took a small bottle from out of the drawer and shook it, it was half full, and then peered inside, "Ink. Six will want this; all of his inkwells are gone now."

Just saying that made Nine feel guilty and he looked down as memories of seeing the Cathedral in flames burned in his mind. He handed the bottle back to None, "Could you hold this while I keep looking?" None took it, setting the other object down, and Nine turned back around. Only a few seconds later there was a soft gasp as None lost his grip on the bottle and it fell to the floor. Nine spun around as soon as he heard it and was relieved to see that everything was okay and that he had remembered to put the cap back on before handing it to his twin who started to bend down. Nine stopped him, "I'll get it." And then picked it up off the floor. None was now the one who was guilty, "I'm sorry, I let it drop." He explained pitifully and his twin smiled, "No, it's okay None, here."

He handed him the inkwell again to show he trusted him. Though he didn't know how None dropped it in the first place, he didn't really bother thinking of it. There was nothing else of importance in the drawer so Nine decided to lead None back with their finds. "You see, Six likes to draw so he needs the ink. I think Three and Four will be able to find paper better than us though." None nodded, "Okay." He simply spoke and looked down at the inkwell. Suddenly, he got a strange idea that he wanted to see inside, and took the cap off before tilting it just a little to see inside. He didn't realize his 'just a little' was enough to cause the blackness to spill out and stain his burlap. He looked down at the new stain and rubbed it to make it go away, which it didn't.

"Nine, this won't go away." He had used ink before at the First Room, but never managed to spill it on himself so he didn't know how to get it to go away. Now that he thought about it, it was foolish to look in the bottle, because it looked the same as the other ink anyway. Nine looked back and actually laughed a little at the scene, at the obviously stumped None and the ink of his front. "It's not going to rub off, None." He smiled, being friendly, and continued, "We'll have to use some water and it will come off quickly." He led his twin to the water in the library, quickly scrubbed the stain away, and then continued to where the others were. It wasn't hard to find them as he could clearly hear One scolding Eight about almost walking on Two.

Nine found Six by himself, not doing anything in particular, possibly because he didn't have anything that he could do. "Six," Nine started, "We found something for you." He didn't say what it was until he handed the ink bottle over to Six. Six immediately looked thrilled, smiling, and saying sort of thanks before grabbing the bottle and seeming to immediately disappear into a crevice some ways away. It was so sudden that at first Nine didn't know what to say. Then he just sort of shrugged and smiled, "Probably drawing already." He suggested to None who in turn smiled as well. Then Nine turned to go see how Two was, noticing his twin following right behind him, and almost was in a daze when None suddenly hit him in the back.

That 'hit' was None's entire body slamming into Nine's before he slid down and hit the floor. Almost immediately Nine could tell that he had stumbled and fell, but now wasn't sure what he had stumbled and fell over. He helped him up, brushed him off, and led him to Two where they were going to ask about the sharp knife like object. "Good morning you two." A Two greeted as soon as he saw them and beckoned them closer, "One is trying to enforce his new 'I need to stay in bed until a recover' rule. If you wouldn't mind, I could use some company." Of course, Nine was more than willing to spend time speaking with Two, "We found this." He showed the sharp object and Two perked, "Oh, a letter opener! I'm sure we could find something to use it for."

"Letter opener?" None stretched out slowly and Two nodded, "Humans write letters to each other and put them into envelopes, which hold the letter and keep it safe, they use these to easily open them." He explained, "I remember Fa-." He cut off, "I… Well… I saw a human using one once." He looked over the letter as Nine and None sat beside him and listened to him as he continued talking.

* * *

Six was more than happy to get more ink. He was thrilled, overjoyed, ecstatic, everything into one. All he wanted to do was draw once again. No longer the source, since that was over, and probably not about beasts, so he didn't know what to draw. Finally he decided to draw a picture of the Cathedral as it was now gone and he didn't want to forget what it looked like. It had been his home after all. As he dipped his hand into the ink he felt a second of peace that was always brought by the calm motion of drawing. He splayed his fingers and tapped the fingers of the now ink covered hand together. It felt nice to have the cool substance coating his hands. It was only then that he heard the thudding of familiar footsteps.

"_No." _Six looked shocked as he heard them. This couldn't be happening yet; not already. But then it came, Eight entering the crevice, and Six doing just as he usually did, stayed quiet and didn't move much. The bully was menacing as usual and immediately his optics went onto the bottle of ink resting beside Six. A soft chuckle before he came closer, the evil chuckle causing the Artist to cringe a little. Then he suddenly nudged the ink bottle with his foot enough so it fell over. Six leapt forward and quickly struggled to straighten the bottle and tried to catch the few drops of ink with a desperate hand. He was able to set the bottle up straight and let out a soft relieved sigh before he realized that the bully had moved. Looking back he could see Eight now beside his drawing.

Eight dropped his foot right onto the drawing and started to grind it into the paper. Six whimpered a bit as he saw this and clutched his key in distress. It hadn't been too long ago that Eight had stepped on his drawing like this but had done no damage. Now Eight wanted to do damage. He turned his foot farther in until the design made to help him grip into the ground gripped into, and shredded the paper. It wasn't like Six hadn't seen this before but he felt shock that Eight would do this when he only had a single drawing left. There wasn't anything he could say. With an evil laugh, Eight turned away and strode out of the crevice, pleased with his attack. At this point Six found himself curling up, resting his head on his knees as his arm wrapped around his legs.

Suddenly Six didn't feel happy anymore.

* * *

Nine was noticing something a little strange with None. When the twins came in, None approached to speak to them. He stumbled again and almost knocked the twins over in the process. By now the male decided to ask Two about this, "Two, None has been acting a little weird. He's been dropping things and stumbling all day." He wasn't complaining, simply curious and a bit concerned. Two seemed to get this brightened look, "I'm actually glad you asked." He watched None as he spoke, "When Stitchpunks were just created they are Newborns. Therefore, they act a little younger, clumsy, and haven't yet learned much about the world. Not all Stitchpunks go through long Newborn stages though. One's was relatively short and, from what he tells me, mine progressed farther. Apparently I drove him insane."

"So…" Nine reasoned, "That's why he keeps tripping over things and dropping things? Because he's still a Newborn?" Two nodded, "The fact that he was alone for such a lengthy amount of time might also be what is causing him to stay in the Newborn stage longer. It's completely normal though. He just is still very young, even though your twin you two are a little different." Nine understood now and was quite pleased with the answer. If None was still young then perhaps the experience would be easier to handle. He himself only wished he could've had this Newborn stage during the recent Incident causing the Fabrication Machine; perhaps he could've made different choices. At that time he noticed One approaching Two so he decided to go find out where Five was.

Three and Four seemed to be quite interested in this new 'twin' and were trying to figure out, and catalogue, every detail about None. None was just as interested in them and looked over to ask Nine why they still hadn't talked to him. He was surprised to see that his brother was absent. Suddenly there was a wave of fear, he was beginning to tremble, and his optics darted around, "Nine? Nine?" His voice began to grow panicked and desperate as he tried to find his brother. All he could think of was Nine leaving him again, and began to steadily grow worst, "He's gone!" He cried out in terror, "Nine! _Nine!_" At this point Three pointed out to her sister that None seemed to panicking for no reason, as Nine was somewhere around here, and Four agreed before they both noticed None starting to run around.

One looked away from Two to see the scene, "What are you doing?" Basically he hadn't been listening to None's earlier cried and now both him and Two realized he was starting to run about frantically. "He's gone! _He's gone!_ He left me!" Eventually None seemed to disappear into the surrounding books and was quickly followed by the Twins. Nine himself had only gone off to find Five and was now speaking to him and Seven calmly. "I don't really know how to take care of a Newborn." Seven seemed unfazed, "It's not too hard. Eight was still in a Newborn stage when I met him. Save the fact that he kept asking me what I was, and I had to explain what a female was, he was a lot easier to deal with then than now." Five was about to speak when they were all stopped by a scream.

"Was that None?" Five asked in confusion, and the cries continued, "Nine! _Nine! Come back!_" Nine began to grow worried when he heard None running around, "None?" He followed the voice and found the male running about frantically, "None? What's wrong?" Upon seeing Nine, None sprung forward and latched onto him, arms tight around him and his face tucked tight into his shoulder. "I thought you left me!" He let out a pitiful whining that sounded as though he was in pain, "I thought you were gone…" Nine held him tightly and stroked his back, feeling sharp empathy pain as his twin was close to weeping, and tried to calm him. "I just came out here to talk to Five and Seven, I didn't plan to leave. I promise I won't ever leave you, None, I promise."

This seemed to pacify None who calmed to a soft sigh before letting himself stand again, "Okay…" Now he looked perhaps a little embarrassed at his outburst around the others, but Five and Seven both reassured him, Seven with a smile and Five with this added with a pat on the back. The twins now appeared and were relieved to see that everything was calmed down now. Nine decided to lead None back into the safe little area where Two was as to not upset him anymore, "How about wedo something together?" None smiled a little, "Okay… What are we going to do?" Nine tried to think, and Seven spoke up, "I'm sure Three and Four could find a book you two could read." None looked hesitant, "I saw a book before, but I couldn't read it. When I wrote it didn't look the same."

"They can find you one that you can read." The Warrior insisted and the two took this as a cue to go to work. They dashed off to search as Nine led None in. Two was now standing, "Oh, None, there you are. Are you alright?" The male nodded and assured Two with said nod. One watched from a little ways away, but said nothing, and then watched the twins as they started to search for a book in particular. After a little while, the twins brought back some sort of book that Nine eagerly opened and attempted to read. None was pleased to see this book was readable and smiled, looked over at Nine who was reading happily, and then grasped his brother's hand with the same bit of happiness.

* * *

"How long until you suppose None begins driving Nine to insanity?" One asked somewhat haughtily and Two chuckled, "One, every Newborn wasn't as terrible as I was." He insisted. The leader was skeptic, "You spent hours chasing me around, asking what a spoon was, I don't think anything could possibly be worse than that. Except I must say I am glad you didn't scream every time I left the room." This caused the Inventor to suddenly seem saddened, "I don't think that was because he's a Newborn." One caught what Tow meant; it wasn't uncommon to have a somewhat unstable Stitchpunk, especially being with what None went through, "It'll get better. But it won't stop immediately." He then chuckled again, "On the bright side, at least it's not another me."

"Well you certainly were precious." The words were whispered into his audio receptor and Two somewhat shivered, "Am I not now?" There was what could only be considered a growl coming from One as he brushed his cheek against Two's, not answering, and only enjoying the feeling of the other's fabric. He realized that he had been so close to losing the Stitchpunk who was now in his grasp. He was so close to opening him on the spot when suddenly he realized he was being watched. A very surprised Five was watching only to look away immediately as soon as the leader knew he was watching. The apprentice was merely curious as it was his mentor, but knew better, and now pretended he had never looked. One decided to release his lover and do the same.

"It's going to get better from here." Two whispered and stroked One's shoulder with a small smile, "We're all together now and everything is complete. Maybe we can even… Maybe we can tell the others about us." He tried to persuade and One didn't respond. His slanted optics locked onto Two's large innocent one's as he pondered this. "Perhaps." Was his only reply, and at least it got him the same sweet smile.

* * *

Nine didn't realize in the beginning that None had fallen asleep. Once he did, he looked down at the other's head, resting on his shoulder, and could feel warm. He himself toyed with the idea of taking a rest and started to lean back across the ground. A few seconds later he suddenly had a cloth tugged over him and looked up to see Five. He smiled, "Thanks." Five also smiled, "Your welcome." His voice was soft as he fixed the blanket. Nine laid beside his twin and held him close, sure it would be a short nap, and barely noticing when he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

**Mable: End of Chapter Two! I'll try to write three, and finish it, as soon as possible. I hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter Three: A Stitchpunk's Curiosity

**Mable: And here is chapter three! I don't really have anything to say… I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter Three: A Stitchpunk's Curiosity_

Nine awoke to feel something odd on his chest. He tried to figure out what it was without opening his tired optics. Finally he did this and immediately saw what was occurring as soon as he realized he could hear the dull sound of a zipper being unzipped. Looking down, there was None, pulling down Nine's zipper, looking quite eager. The male cried out in alarm as a reflex to having someone above him, tugging his front open, and it caused None to also cry out and fall backwards. His optics were wide in alarm and he immediately spoke, "I'm sorry!" He suddenly had this look of sadness and fear, as though he believed Nine would be mad, but his brother was able to get over it quickly. "You just scared me." He managed a tired smile as he sat up, "Don't worry, I'm not mad."

His twin looked at his somewhat open zipper, "I just wanted to see if it looked like my inside." The innocent tone caused Nine to go into his 'mentor brother' mindset and he tugged his zipper down farther. "Here, I'll show you." He couldn't deny that it was a little awkward to have someone staring at his inner metal parts, but it still felt nice to teach, especially when teaching his twin. "That's my voice box. It makes me speak." He tapped the object and after a second None tapped it too, "Mine is different." Nine nodded, "Two had to fix mine so it will look different." Then None leaned in close and pressed his cheek to Nine's metal, "What's that noise?" He quickly mimicked the noise and his twin knew what it was, "It's my soul. It makes a soft noise."

It was a comforting pulsing sound and None pressed closer into it to listen. That was when a voice broke the silence, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." They both looked over to see Seven standing nearby. "We thought you'd never wake up." Nine felt quite embarrassed now and slowly zipped himself closed while None watched him do it. Then None decided to turn on himself and looked down at his own zipper that he promptly unzipped. He liked the sound, and smiled playfully as he zipped it again, then unzipped it once again. At this point Nine stood and approached Seven, "Were we asleep all night?" She nodded, "I was a little surprised. But I guess with all the excitement yesterday it had to have made him extra tired."

Then Nine looked around, "What about Five? Where's he?" He didn't know why he was so concerned, perhaps because he almost lost him, and the Warrior understood. "He's with Two, I think they were looking for a better place to sleep." Still None continued to zip and unzip his zipper until suddenly it wouldn't move anymore. It was stuck halfway down and None tried to tug it only to feel a little pain instead of movement. Seeing Nine heading for the door, unaware of his problem, he spoke, "Nine, it won't move!" Nine looked back and immediately realized he meant his zipper. He smiled a little and Seven actually let out what could only be known as a giggle, then he approached, "Calm down. This happened to me before."

A few seconds of gentle moving and a few pained sighs passed before the zipper was fixed. Nine zipped None right back up, "Now next time try to be more careful." His twin nodded eagerly, "I will." Nine helped him to his feet and started back towards Seven, only to have None suddenly grab his hand. It wasn't to stop him though, he actually just wanted to hold hands, and it actually made Nine feel good.

* * *

"If we moved back here then we would have more than enough warning if a beast was nearby." Two pointed out as he scanned the surrounding area, Five nodding in agreement before looking down. There was obviously something on his mind and Two decided to ask, "You have been awfully quiet." The healer looked up shyly before looking again downward, "Two I… I have to…I was wondering something... But it's kind of hard to ask… I'm afraid you'll be mad." Two waved it off, "Not at all. Now what is it?" The healer looked down, "It's about you and One… What are you? I-I mean why do you- I mean…" He trailed off and Two sighed, "I know what you're asking, Five." He was now the one to turn away as he spoke.

"I'll be honest with you; we have been hiding it for a very long time. One and I are a couple, we even exchanged our own vows which means we are together for life, though we have been keeping it behind closed doors." It was obvious that Two was sounding sad and Five spoke up, "Why do you hide it?" The Inventor could answer quickly, "Well… Actually…. I don't know. One just insists that we do. Perhaps he's afraid that he will be ridiculed and stripped of his crown. You know how he always has to wear something to cover his- I guess it doesn't matter." He found his hands going together to rub at each other, a very Five-like motion, "As long as he's happy I am too." Now Five had the urge to speak out and couldn't silence himself, "But that doesn't make any sense."

"Nothing ever does with One." Two chuckled a little, almost forced, "But it's fine… Just as long as we are still together, it's fine." Before Five could speak again, Nine and None appeared, the latter trailing behind the former, "Good morning Two, Five." Two put on a bright smile as he greeted them as well, "Good morning! Did you rest well?" Nine gave a short 'yes' and None simply nodded to back his twin up. Then he looked over at Five, and suddenly seemed to be staring, Five felt a sudden wave of shyness and looked down almost timidly. That's when None actually approached, "Five?" The healer looked up and smiled, "Yes?" Then None suddenly pointed, almost brushing Five's patch with his finger, and spoke, "What happened to your eye?"

Silence. Suddenly everyone fell into it and it took Nine to whisper a quick, "None!" To break it. None winced back as though he was almost afraid before looking back at Five, "Sorry. I just was wondering." Five didn't like seeing how None looked down sadly and pitifully and spoke, "No, it's okay. I don't remember much during it actually." Two nodded, "You wouldn't. I remember you immediately went into shock, then the overheating afterwards, it was a dreadful ordeal. Thankfully, he was able to move on. Not many others would." Two then patted his apprentice's shoulder lovingly and smiled to him, receiving a smile in return, and now Nine himself decided to speak to None. "I didn't mean to scold you, None. It's just a sore subject."

None learned quickly and nodded slowly, "I shouldn't have asked about that." Nine decided to follow Two's lead and placed a hand on None's shoulder. Almost immediately afterwards then was a sudden squeezing and all over warmth as None leapt forward to embrace his twin. Nine hugged back and stroked over where his absent number would be slowly. This is why he loved having a twin.

* * *

He knew even before he opened his optics that Eight was already there. Standing over him, looking down with a smirk, and waiting for him to get up. So eventually Six did have to open his mismatched ones to endure the horror that Eight chose today. It only an instant, Eight had moved away, and then Six could hear a dull ripping of paper. He shot up and looked over to see his newest drawing being slowly shredded in two. He gasped lightly in terror as though he had no idea Eight would do this before dashing over and trying to retrieve the picture. Eight only lifted it high above his head so that he couldn't reach it. The artist wasn't willing to jump for it or Eight could do something else. Finally Eight just crumpled it up, dropped it, and left with the same evil chuckling.

Six stared at the crumpled paper and sighed softly. Suddenly he was alarmed to have the sigh cut off by a choke. He covered his mouth in alarm, not knowing what caused it, before sitting down to make yet another drawing. It took quite a while to do, but once he was finished he was pleased to see it was better than before. Pleased with his work he immediately took the drawing to be seen by the others. He rushed out of his crevice and towards the direction where he could hear the others talking. After a minute he arrived and was immediately spotted by the others, "Good morning, Six!" Two greeted cheerfully from behind Nine and None who were hugging for whatever reason. They all looked happy though and he crossed closer, watching Two speak with Five, and seeing Nine looking at him, and…

"Six, wait!" Nine suddenly cut in and apparently didn't stop Six fast enough. The male suddenly tripped over something and hit the ground as hard as possible. Then there was that cursed Eight laughter and he realized he was tripped on purpose. Eight made a quick exit and the others came over to help him up. Five arrived first, "Are you okay?" Six nodded before growing increasingly alarmed, which was short lived as he realized that his drawing hadn't been harmed in the fall. He smiled joyously and showed his drawing to the others. Words of praise were coming from all four of them. "It looks nearly perfect." Two spoke up, "Why, if it hadn't have burnt down, I'd swear we were standing before the Cathedral." This caused Six to smile much wider.

"What is the Cateredreal?" None pronounced incorrectly and Nine explained, "It was the old Sanctuary. It recently burnt down, so now we're looking for a new home, one that's just as good as the Cathedral." He could hear his twin murmur, "Cathedral." In correct pronouncing. "It's really a nice picture, Six." Five praised the Artist too who was now feeling a lot better and had forgotten all about his dispute with Eight. Then, suddenly, Eight appeared again, now with One who was looking quite annoyed. However, that wasn't caught the four's attention. "Some of us will have to go scouting at some point. There is much in the library, but not much that is excessively useable." One pointed out, "and I wouldn't dare trust you in going out there." He commented to Two.

Two was too confused though, "Are you wearing a piece of a broken bottle on your head?" One scoffed in annoyance, "It is not a bottle, it is a crown." The other three sort of looked at each other in confusion and even Eight was looking a little unnerved by the bottle hat. Still the leader was adamant that he was acting normal and that everyone else was being strange. Two snapped himself out of it long enough to speak, "I agree, though. Some of us will have to scout at some time. But let's not think of that now." One seemed confused, "And why not?" The Inventor started in a random direction off, "Because it's too early in the day to be scouting anyway, so why bother worrying about it. We still have work to do anyway."

"You should not be working." One insisted, causing Two to chuckle, but still he went ignored and followed the Stitchpunk. Meanwhile, Six noticed Eight was looking at him, looking back and giving him this weird look of evil plotting before turning around and following his leader. The look sent an utter chill through Six's core and he felt incredibly vulnerable at this time. Five rubbed his hand across his back, but that didn't help the slightest, though Six gave him a weak smile for trying at least. It was better than nothing. They talked a bit among themselves while Two went deeper into the library until he was passing the pool of water. Two reached down and dipped his metal fingers into the water, flexing them and enjoying the cool feeling. "This could be a valuable resource if we're overheating."

"No, you just want to dip yourself in water." One again made a haughty comment as he passed and Two decided to gain a mischievous smile. He lifted his hand and flicked the water in One's direction. Being close by the few drops of water hit his fabric and he could easily feel it. He faced Two and gave a sharp glare, to which Two looked innocent, "Is something wrong, One?" One came closer, looking down at the Inventor, "Two, if you-." Whatever he was about to threaten was cut off when Two attempted to splash him. Not much water made it, but it was enough to startle and set One off, "You will regret this." Two laughed and turned back to the water, "One, you certainly need to cheer up and have a bit more fun." He reached out to again touch the water.

"You mean like this?" Two didn't realize what One meant until a hand pressed to his back and shoved. Being as Two was quite off-balance in his position, he tumbled into the water, letting out a cry before doing so. It took him only a second to get his head above water again. That smirk on One's face was one of amusement, finding it humorous in what he did, and spoke up. "If you act like a child you should expect to receive that sort of treatment." He turned to wander off, only to have a pair of hands lock on his ankle, "I could say the same thing, One." He tugged at the leg and One tugged back, going on a few times, until Two used all his weight to drag One into falling forward and plunging into the water as well, nearly on top of him.

When One appeared he was absolutely enraged, standing in the water beside Two, "How dare you!" It didn't help that the Two was leaning on the edge laughing so hard that he almost fell over. "Stop laughing!" One commanded and Two tried to stop, but it was nearly impossible, and finally the leader reached forward and grabbed him by the shoulder. Two did stop laughing now, and was staring, as One suddenly began to move him closer. His other hand landed on the other shoulder and pulled him even closer. Their mouths were lingering so close that Two's were now trembling. Then they pressed together, wanting, moving together in sync, and then ruined by the strange choking noise. Immediately One tugged back, looked over, and could see Eight standing there.

A few seconds passed by where he said nothing, and then Eight rose his hands like in self-defense and then abruptly left, leaving the two older Stitchpunks alone in the water. Then Two spoke, "Well now do you see why we shouldn't keep this a secret? That could have been a lot less awkward." One glanced at him as though he was insane, "There is nothing that could've made that less awkward." He now was too unnerved to continue, but watched as Two's rested his head against his chest. "Though it would be nice." One didn't respond at first, but then wrapped his arms around Two, "It would…" Then he changed his tone, "Now, help me find my crown." Two laughed, "You mean your broken bottle?" This received a half glared and another chaste kiss.

* * *

Eight knew what was occurring when he saw One and Two pressing their mouths together. He had seen it before, but didn't know what it was, except that they did it in private and that apparently they liked it. The thought made him get that urge, the one that sometimes plagued him, the one that he was slowly trying to give up since the Seamstress incident. He found a hidden area behind some rubble, "Just a little bit." He usually had pretty good willpower with the magnet, and was now able to say 'only a little', and then only use it 'a little'. There weren't any side-affects if he barely used it, if he used it too much his optics would dilate and he'd end up acting weird before falling asleep. He lifted the magnet, the new one he had recently found, and pressed it to his head.

Immediately that pleasure overwhelmed and it was like the world was disappearing. Only a little could be seen through the haze and nothing mattered, until he saw something through his haze, passing by, and could recognize it. He pulled the magnet away immediately and could now see the frame of Six as he passed by, oblivious to Eight seeing him. Immediately the bully felt this stirring as his mind filled with the many things he could do to Six. The Artist was carrying that picture around still had he was willing to do something to it to get a reaction out of him. That was when he noticed Nine and None appearing, asking about Five, and decided to back down. That was when he started to think of why exactly he wanted to go after Six.

It was one of those things that Eight decided not to go into. The fact was; Six was the perfect target. The strange, odd looking, somewhat unstable artist was no match for Eight and that was all that matter right now.

* * *

Nine had been looking for Five for a while now and was glad when he finally found him. He approached with None in tow, following behind as though Nine was his only guide, "Five!" Nine called. He could see Five getting his newly fixed needle harpoon together and was curious, "What are you doing?" The healer smiled a little, "Seven and I are going scouting. Well, not together, but at the same time." Nine was a little fearful of Five going out alone, but hid it well, "I could come with you." He offered and Five seemed a little relieved, "If you don't mind, I'd like that. I don't want to be alone out there." He gave a small shrug with his smile. Now None spoke, "Can I come too?" Immediately Nine turned serious, "None, I don't think you should. It's really dangerous and you don't know how to defend yourself yet."

"But…" None seemed terrified, "You're leaving me alone…" Nine smiled comfortingly, "I'll just be gone for a little while, and then I'll be back before you know it. But you have to promise me you won't go out into the Emptiness yet, alright?" None looked down at the floor not answering and Nine pressed, "Please None, it's just too dangerous. It won't be too long." Finally his twin gently nodded without looking up at him. This was rewarded with a quick embrace before he went to go retrieve the letter opener to bring with Five and him. Once back, he turned to Five, "Ready?" The healer nodded and they began, together walking, out of the library. Nine knew that it would be hard for None, because of what happened yesterday with him panicking, and turned around to speak again.

Oddly enough, None was now gone. At first Nine was concerned until he decided that None probably just went to see the others. He turned back ahead and exited the library with Five, trying to smother the guilt of leaving None but knowing it was for the best. None himself had planned to obey Nine's promise and went to go find Six or Seven to do something with him. However, the shaking began, the panic, and the next thing he knew he was some ways away from his twin hiding behind anything in sight. As Nine and Five exited the library; None followed behind.

* * *

**Mable: Yeah, that's never a good sign. What shall occur? All in the next chapter that shall be worked on right away! I hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter Four: The Dangerous Emptiness

**Mable: I'll admit, I kind of rushed at some points, but I hope that it doesn't seem too rushed. I'm trying to get the chapters uploaded in a timely manner so I think I'm going to do a three or four day per chapter thing. Less if I'm lucky. Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone for being so supportive and reviewing! Reviews are like points, I save them up to purchase another chapter, in a sense. I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter Four: The Dangerous Emptiness_

The sun felt good and Nine felt quite glad to be venturing through the Emptiness with Five. It was a lot less nerve wracking than when they were looking for Two and all they had to worry about was looking for things they could use to help rebuild. "One wanted to move into that really large building, I think he called it a Palace, down that way." He pointed in a direction and Nine glanced over, "I can't see it." Five shook his head, "No, you wouldn't, it's that way some ways. Most of it is destroyed though so Two said he'd rather build onto the Library." The healer tugged his bag closer to him, "Any where's alright if it's safe." That tone caught Nine's attention and he smiled comfortingly, "The library is safe. Trust me; there aren't any more beasts that will be able to go in without us knowing."

Five returned to smile with a hopeful one of his own, "Thank you, I need that." The words sent warmth through Nine's insides and for a second he was confused to what it was. Then it went away and the two continued on together. A little later the two stumbled across something that piqued curiosity. It was so strange and Nine tilted his head, "It's a little ball." He pointed out and Five perked up, "I've seen one of those before." Being as they were on some rubble, he had to jump down to see it, and did cautiously, but wasn't too fearful as the surrounding area almost had a barrier of rubble. He lifted the odd green ball in his grasp, "Two found one of these once. They're called marbles." Nine leapt down beside him and was handed the hard object.

The marble was perfectly round and smooth to the touch, a little cold, and a mixture of light and dark green. "I like it. What was it used for?" Five looked around as though he was searching for more, "I don't really know. Two said they were played with though." Nine couldn't fathom how to play with it so he entertained himself with rolling it around in his hand, walking behind Five. That was when something round, protruding from the dirt, was stepped on and he stumbled over it. He promptly bent down and wiped the dirt away to see another marble, "There's another one here." He announced as he lifted it and continued cleaning it with his arm. Five himself found a few more leading to a small bag that he lifted open and looked inside. It was filled with many more marbles.

"What are we going to do with them?" Nine asked and Five shrugged. Then the Stitchpunk looked at the marbles in his hand, "We couldn't carry them all back to the sanctuary, but we could take one for Two." He suggested and immediately his friend seemed to like the idea, "Blue is his favorite color." Five finished the thought by searching for a blue marble and then putting it back into his bag. After a few seconds, Nine put another, the green one, into the bag too, "For None." Then they continued on through the Emptiness. They didn't notice another having a hard time trying to get down the edge, only to finally jump down. None knew that he shouldn't be following, but it was quite amazing to be out in such a vast world, even if everything was falling apart.

He wandered over to the marble and looked at them in curiosity before touching one for himself. This orange marble was the same as the others and yet None decided that he wanted it for Nine. He would simply not say where he got it from. Unzipping himself, he placed the marble safely inside, and then hurried to follow his twin and his twin's best friend through the Emptiness. Nine and Five had no idea that they were being followed and Nine decided to speak, "I really feel bad about leaving None, but if he's a newborn then it would be too dangerous to have him out here. What do you think he's doing?" Five thought, "He's probably with either the twins or maybe Six. Still, I wouldn't want anything to happen to None while we were out here."

"Me neither." Nine sighed, but then changed subject, "Six… He's been acting different recently. When I first met him he was a little quieter and, honestly, sometimes I didn't understand what he meant when he talked about his nightmares." Five nodded in understanding, "When Six goes without sleep he acts different. Since everything happened he's been having fewer nightmares so he's been able to sleep again." This brought up another whole different problem, "Why does Eight go after him so much? I don't understand why he does it to Six." The healer was equally upset, "He… He likes to bully me too, sometimes, but never as much as Six. He goes after Six so much, always, and you can tell that it really upsets Six, and that Eight likes doing it."

"I want to help, but I know if I say anything to Eight, it'll just make it worse. Why doesn't One do anything?" Five shrugged, "I don't think he realizes how bad it is." They both went quiet as they didn't know what to say. That was until Nine decided to again change the subject, "How have you been?" Five seemed taken aback, "Me?" Nine nodded and his friend seemed a bit stuck on what to say. "Well… Umm… I've been helping Two a lot. He's been doing better since we repaired him. So I've been doing okay…" The other laughed lightly, "No, Five, I mean how are _you _doing? I know it's been hard." The healer smiled lightly though, "I'm doing better. It's all over now and…" He paused, "Do you hear something?" There was something that Nine could now hear.

None was behind them, rather close, when he heard the shuffling noise through the rubble nearby. He blinked and looked in that direction, but could see nothing. He turned back to following his twin, but the noise kept progressing. Then he brushed it off as nothing while listening to Nine and Five. "I don't know. Let's just keep moving." Nine suggested and Five nodded vigorously in agreement as they quickened their pace to nearly a run while keeping it considered a walk. None struggled to keep up as he was finding himself tripping over almost everything that he could trip over. Still the noise continued until None looked over to see something, a rock, roll out from behind a bit of a wall. Now he decided to creep forward and called soft enough that Nine and Five couldn't hear.

"Seven?" No answer and None peered around the wall, "Is that you?" There was something there, in the shadows, and all None could see was one glowing red eye. It let out a growl and began to come out of the shadows slowly. Four legs, made of metal, that same red eye, None never saw a beast previously or he'd know it as a Cat Beast. He started to walk backwards in terror as it stalked after him into the light. He couldn't speak and suddenly wished he would've stayed home. Then it leapt forward and suddenly it brought its harsh paw down on him, pinning him to the ground below. He then let out a cry, "Nine! _Nine! Nine, help!" _Needless to say, Nine was shocked to hear the voice and spun around, "Was that None?"

He was answered when None was batted so hard that he was flung out from behind the rubble and attempted to get to his feet to run. The Cat Beast was coming forward and was now above him. At that second Five was able to get his Needle Harpoon out and shot towards the beast while Nine ran forward. He couldn't hear Five, he didn't care about his own safety, he simply wanted to save his twin who was reaching for him. The Beast didn't appreciate a needle into its leg and growled at Five before bounding in his direction, seeing as it could easily catch None yet again. Nine helped None up and shoved him towards a dilapidated house, "Run! Hide!" Then he looked back and, seeing the beast trying to get Five, ran back with his letter opener raised like a spear.

Five managed to scramble and duck around enough to slow the Cat Beast before it could reach him. At this time Nine leapt towards the Beast and stabbed it was the sharp letter opener. The Beast roared and Five shot another needle that stuck into its back. He had to have hit somewhere positive, because the beast suddenly lost control of his back right leg. Now the Beast was turning on Nine and swatted him back. The male rolled head over heels backwards and the Beast went to its side to rip the letter opener out with its teeth. Then it went towards Nine, baring the same teeth, and Nine attempted to get up. Those sharp teeth were coming quickly and that's when a sudden weight hit Nine, like a shove, at the same time the Cat Beast bit.

Nine had only closed his optics for a second, but when they opened he watched as Five was tossed like a ragdoll by his arm which was locked in the Cat Beast's mouth. He hit the ground so hard that immediately Nine became concerned, until a rock flew by his head and hit the beast. Looking back he could see None standing there, another rock in his grasp getting ready to be tossed. Nine went to run forward only to see None suddenly look surprised at something, and it was followed by the Beast making a pained noise. Looking back Nine could see the Beast now attacking something on his back, a very familiar white Stitchpunk, Seven. Immediately Nine knew that she could fight it, but he had to address Five. "None, hide, don't come out until it's gone!"

None nodded and dashed off to hide behind the same wall it came out of. Nine, in turn, ran to Five's side as the Stitchpunk was struggling to sit up, grasping his arm that he was thrown by. "Five!" He crouched by him, "Are you okay?" The one eyed one winced, "There's something wrong with my arm..." It dangled oddly but the fabric was still completely intact so Nine didn't know what was on, "It'll be okay. We'll get you back to Two." He helped Five to his feet and looked back fast enough to let out a cry, "Run!" Seven was still on the Beast, but it was coming in their direction. They began running, Five struggling and Nine trying to help him at they took forward, only to turn sharply when they came upon the wall None was behind.

There was a smashing noise as the Cat Beast ran into the wall and Seven's spear went through its neck in the force of the collision. Needless to say, the Beast that was already suffering from a no longer working leg fell over and no longer moved. The Warrior leapt off its back and landed gracefully before approaching the two males. "Are you alright?" Five forced a nod as he clutched his aching arm, "I-I have to get back to Two." Nine slipped his arm around his best friend's back and helped him walk back towards the library. None came out from behind the wall, and waited for Nine to say something, but no words were spoken. In fact, it was like Nine was doing it on purpose. The thought made his insides hurt and he followed the three quietly and full of guilt.

* * *

One and Two had been spending a normal afternoon alone; which meant One was sitting to himself with his arms crossed, offended about a comment Two gave about his crown, and Two was trying to speak to him. "One, I just said that it is tall, but the top is still jagged so you need to be careful." The leader scoffed, "Am I an imbecile?" He demanded and looked away with a glare. Two tugged a crown off of his head, much to the other's shock, "Do you only wear a crown to cover this? It is nothing to be ashamed of." He attempted to touch the tie on the top of One's head and the male moved away, "Don't you dare. Another-." That's when he noticed Five, Nine, None, and Seven coming in and One quickly covered his head with the glass crown.

"So you have returned." He played his flustered behavior off, only to notice Nine helping Five, "Did something happen?" Two recognized that look of pain and came closer to Five to examine him, "Five, what happened?" Five used his good hand to show the area where in hurt, "A beast threw me… By my arm… It really hurts." He made a soft groan when Two touched the area and felt it, "It came out of place. That must be painful; but I assure you it's an easy fix." He led Five into a more secluded area, "Nine, could you help me?" Nine nodded immediately and followed in concern. One waited until they were gone to turn to the other two Stitchpunks, "Do either of you know what occurred?" Seven nodded, "A Cat Beast attacked."

"It was my fault." None broke in, looking at the ground, "I didn't want Nine to go away so I followed them. There was this noise, I looked and… It was that thing that attacked me, then it attacked Nine and Five because of my, I broke my promise, it was all my fault." He clutched his head in his hand and tried to calm himself from the horrible thoughts. He was brought out by a Seven on his shoulder, "None, it would have attacked whether you were there or not." She reasoned with him, but None was seemingly unable to be reasoned with, as he felt too guilty to brush it off. "You are still a Newborn," One spoke, "I am not surprised at what you did." This received a glare from Seven. "Why are you looking at me like that? I am not accusing him, I am defending him."

He turned to look in the direction the others had gone in and shook his head a little, "They should have been more careful." The Warrior decided to defend them, calmly, "It was bound to happen. The Beast was stalking them for a while. If None wouldn't have triggered it, it could have gotten them cornered enough that Nine and Five couldn't have fought." They now fell into silence, but None didn't feel any better. Back with Nine, he was now witnessing a horrific display. It was quick, but Two practically climbed on top of Five, forced his arm back into his socket, and Five had let out the most agonizing sound possible as this was done. Once it was completed, he looked to be in less pain, and simply panted as he rested back against a stack of books he was leaning on.

"All finished. You are very lucky. When a limb is just out of place in just needs to be put back in place to work properly again. Little to no work at all." Two explained before stroking Five's uninjured arm, "Maybe you should rest. I'll help you walk to the beds." Five put up his hand in dismissal, "No, Two, thank you, but I think I'm just going to stay here." The Inventor nodded in understanding and gave the Stitchpunk a brief embrace before leaving to give him some privacy. Nine was still there beside Five, looking quite miserable, and he spoke quietly, "Five… I'm sorry you got hurt. It should've been me." Five shook his head, "I was trying to protect you. Even if I got a little hurt it was worth it…" then he realized what he actually said, "W-Well- I mean… Umm…"

"Thank you Five." Nine smiled to him, "You keep doing things that harm you just to save everyone else from being hurt." He slid closer and actually slid an arm behind Five's back, "You need to rest. I'll stay with you." Five exhaled gently as he began to do this, against the books, not knowing what to say. It wasn't very long before he began to drift off and Nine didn't mind staying by him, forgetting the marbles, forgetting the other Stitchpunks, just remembering Five and what could have happened.

* * *

The twins dashed off at the sound of Seven's voice and Six was now alone in his crevice. It was coming, so he decided to run to find the others as a form of defense. Thankfully he was able to make it to the others relatively quickly and found One, Two, Seven, the twins, and None speaking to each other. More so, One, Two, and Seven were talking while None looked upset and the twins watched on. The Artist wished he could step forward and actually be involved in the conversation, but he was too quiet, and he learned quickly that nobody else ever understood what he was trying to say. Slowly he turned around only to be met by a wall, the wall being made of Stitchpunk, naturally. Slowly his mismatched optics looked upwards to lock with Eight's.

Of course Eight was still coming for Six, the Artist knew it as it was steadily growing worse over the last few days, and as soon as he saw the Bully looking straight at him he decided to immediately try to inch away. He kept his optics now locked on the floor and moved to the side as to let Eight pass, which he didn't. So Six decided to look back at the others and just pretend that the other male wasn't behind him. After a few seconds, Eight left, and Six felt quite relieved to find the other male gone but somewhat wondered where exactly he went. Thankfully it didn't matter right now though and he tried to stay calm as he listened to the others. "He'll be fine after some rest." Two reassured None, "And Nine wasn't ignoring you, he was just worried about Five."

None didn't seem convinced, but when Two tugged him into a hug, he wasn't willing to resist it, and he rested his head against Two's shoulder. "I wish I wouldn't have gone…" He whispered and the Inventor nodded, "I know you do None, but it isn't you fault." Then the room seemed to be quieter. Nobody really knew what to say so they decided to say nothing at all. Around this time Seven decided to go give Nine his letter opener, she had retrieved it while Nine helped Five, and headed back to where the two were still located. She didn't exactly expect this though; Five completely asleep against the books behind him while Nine was laying against him also asleep, head now laying against Five's shoulder. The Warrior smiled and placed the letter opener nearby before leaving to let them rest.

They certainly needed it.

* * *

**Mable: And so that is it for now! I called that thing on One's head a tie, I didn't really know what to call it other than that. Anyway; will Six escape Eight? Will Nine forgive None? Will One's crown ever get respect? All to be answered in the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter Five: Guilt and Confusion

**Mable: Yet another chapter. I have nothing to say yet until the end Author Note. Again, I would like to thank everyone who is reading and enjoying my fic! Thanks! I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter Five: Guilt and Confusion_

Guilt was something that hurt a lot more than None could have ever thought. It hurt almost as much as being alone for so long and feeling like he was forgotten. Now, though, None wished he was forgotten, because he never wanted to hurt his twin. He was now walking back and forth nervously as Two's comfort had just stopped so he could go look for something with One. Seven had already left, and the only ones left were the other twins who were flipping through another book and Six who was to himself. The striped one wasn't drawing so None thought through the idea of going to sit by him. Then he finally approached and sat down beside him, neither of them knowing what to say, and then None finally spoke, "Hello."

The Artist seemed a bit confused, but answered, "Hello." They continued in silence; both of their minds were clouded in over things so they wanted a distraction. Then None spoke, "That was a really nice picture of the Cathedral. I liked it." Six smiled, "You did?" He didn't expect anyone to still be talking about one of his drawings and it seemed to boost his confidence. None nodded, "I wish I could have seen it." The Artist nodded in agreement, "I miss my home. But it's gone now… Two said there are other Cathedrals out there, but nowhere nearby." He explained, becoming more talkative. None seemed to perk, "Maybe we could go find one. How big is the Emptiness?" Six shrugged, "The whole world?" That's when they were interrupted by the twins.

Three kept the book opened and caught their attention while Four showed them a picture through projection. It was of an area, like on a map, clearly marked Luxembourg. "Lux-em-bourg." None pronounced, "So the Emptiness is called Lux-em-bourg?..." It was nice to learn something new, but it didn't help show where another Cathedral was. None liked seeing the mapping though and was curious to what the rest of the world looked like. Then he stopped when he heard footsteps and looked over in their direction to see Nine wandering into the area, looking like he just awoke. None started towards him cautiously, "Nine?" There was a pause before Nine spoke, "Hey None. Are you alright?" His voice was quiet and still tired.

None mistook this for him being upset and looked down, "I… Is Five okay?" Nine nodded, "He's just resting." They stood in silence before None turned around and wandered away. Nine noticed it, "Where are you going?" None sort of winced, "I… I don't know…" By then Nine could tell that the other was upset and came forward towards him. "None," He spoke quietly, "Are you upset about something?" At that second his twin turned around and leapt on him, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt Five! I didn't to break the promise!" He sputtered out as he held his twin tight. Nine paused, realizing that he had been ignoring None without thinking about it, and finally embraced back, "I'm sorry None, I knew you shouldn't have been alone and I shouldn't have left."

"But I broke a promise." None whispered as he pressed against the warm burlap. "It was a small promise, it didn't matter. The ones that matter are promises like; 'I'm not going to leave you', and 'I wouldn't get mad at you over an accident'." None smiled up at Nine, "Thank you, brother." Nine blinked, "What?" He had never actually been referred to as 'brother' by None before this. His twin said again, "I said, thank you, brother." Nine held him tighter, "You're welcome… Brother."

* * *

Two groaned as he sat down on a nearby book. He wouldn't admit it to the others but his legs were beginning to ache. He had been overworking his newly repaired legs, which would do nothing except cause pain. He massaged his right leg and tried to keep from making any louder noises. Of course, soon he was interrupted, "Where did you run off to? I swear, your attention span is much too short." The leader insisted as he decided to sit beside the Inventor, "Something is troubling you." Two shook his head, "No, no, no. I feel quite fine." He insisted and tried to hide the soreness. The other male scoffed, "You are still a terrible liar. Remember when you were young, like None, and you lost your blanket and forced your presence on me?"

"If I remember correctly, you weren't too disappointed." Two corrected as he watched One's hand move to his leg. It began to rub the fabric and Two sighed, "That feels very good, One. You've always been good with your hands." The leader let out a sound in his chest of pleasure, like he was enjoying petting Two. The male smiled pleasantly, "Perhaps we should spend some time together. We could start where we left off in the water." He suggested as he reached over to the other's hand and squeezed it affectionately. "Or maybe this would be better?" He instead leaned against One, resting his head against his shoulder, and entwining their hands, "I know that you still are against it, but I really think we need to consider telling."

"Someone knows." One accused and Two wasn't willing to deny, "Five knows, and he doesn't see anything wrong except that you and I are pretending that it doesn't exist. We can't go on like this One." The leader pulled away, "We are done talking about this. I told you that I didn't want any of them knowing and you told _Five. _I cannot believe this! How am I supposed to ever look at Five again when I know that he knows about us!" Two looked at his legs, his fingers playing together, and exhaled softly. "Alright One, we can keep it a secret, but I don't understand why we have to do this." As One started away, Two knew to stay quiet, but wanted to persist until the Leader broke down and allowed them to admit their relationship to the others.

"I just don't understand why you're so stubborn." He tested and on the spot One halted his movements, Two found himself staring at One's number as he awaited an answer. "I am not stubborn. I am being sensible. At least I am not naïve." Two gasped in offense, "I am not naïve, One. I just love you. I hate having to live like this, hiding, it's just not right!" Now he was speaking louder, but not in an angry fashion, just excited. "Not right?" One faced him with a heated glare, "I will tell you what's not right, being exiled! They will say it is wrong! We are both not similar, we should not be together, and then that I am no longer leader and are soon sent out into the Emptiness to die!" The Inventor sighed, "One, you sound absolutely insane."

"I will not be insulted!" One's voice rose, "We live in a very unfair world, one that you ignore and replace with your foolish building ideas and thoughts of things we can never achieve! Which means we must make sacrifices! This is one of those sacrifices!" Two now felt a flash of hurt and couldn't help but speak up, "Father would have never wanted us to make a sacrifice like this!" Silence. There was no talking and both of them just stood there until One straightened himself, "I refuse to discuss him. He, like you, could not grasp reality. This is done, I refused to argue about this meaningless subject anymore." Then he turned to leave. The words affected Two though and he felt himself tremble, "So that is why you… You are ashamed of me. You lied about being afraid of anything other than being ashamed."

He turned away and pressed a hand to his head. The mere thought of One being ashamed of him was painful, but it made quite a lot of sense. "Two…" One said quietly, confused, "You cannot actually believe that I am ashamed of you." Two didn't look back, "It is the only thing that makes sense. You fear the others won't respect you if they know that you and I are lovers. All because I am just… I really am naïve…" He could now feel One's hand on his back, "You couldn't be any more wrong. This is not because I am ashamed of you, if anything it is because I am ashamed of myself." He slid his arms around Two's waist and tugged him closer, no longer angered; he was now actually feeling upset at himself that he had hurt Two.

"The worst part One is…" Two paused briefly to regain his thoughts, "All I keep thinking of is; what if I had been killed? All we would have been able to show for our lives was a horrible mix up where it looks like you murdered me. Nobody would even know to put our graves together, and if one of us survived we would have to live with never having loved outside of it being a secret." One pressed against the back of Two's head, "Don't say something like that. That will not happen." Finally One did something he had never done before previously, he gave in, "Fine, we will tell everyone about us. I just need a day to clear my head." Two immediately perked, "Do you mean that?" One rubbed his head with one hand, "You cannot expect me to go out there, this second, and announce it."

"No, not about waiting until tomorrow. Just actually being able to tell." Two insisted, "We will really be able to be together without worrying if the others see us?" The male nodded in assuring. Then suddenly Two felt a drive and grabbed onto One, tugging him forward and locking their mouths together, not caring if anyone saw. Happiness, completeness, and the utter relief of not causing One to be ashamed were overfilling. The warmth was great on both sides and soon Two noticed a hand twisting in his ties, tugging them undone. Two didn't resist as he felt himself being led into a more private area. He certainly wanted the others to know about them, but this event was most likely one that could stay secret.

* * *

Six knew what was happening as he heard those footsteps circling him. So he had been spending the last while trying to all out avoid him. However, his struggles suddenly failed, the second that arm came out before him and blocked his way, "You're not going anywhere." Eight's voiced sounded quite angered. Now Six wished he had the normal, smirking, and amused Eight instead of this obviously annoyed one. "Listen freak, I know you think you can just avoid me, but that's not happening." The artist looked quite fearful as he worried about what the other would do. Eight decided that he was through with the Artist and merely shoved him away, causing Six to immediately hit the ground. Even though it wasn't intentional, Six felt quite hurt that Eight was now attacking physically.

He struggled to his feet and began running towards his crevice only to hear Eight speak, "You're not going to want to see your room." That warning made everything so much worse and Six was begging, pleading inside, that he didn't do anything too bad. It was just growing worse over the days. Slowly Eight went from the bullying once in a while to this assault. Six was now starting to feel hopeless as he had a feeling this could only get worse. Especially when he entered his room. The few pictures he made were now shreds on the floor, including the Cathedral one, and the ink well was on its side where it was spilling ink across the floor. Six felt his body seize and he couldn't control the growing pressure inside. Then he finally let it come out.

It took a few seconds to actually set in that he was crying. Six had never cried before and the whimpers scared him, causing him to cry even more. He wished that he could just be normal again as this was making him feel even worse. Not as bad as Eight made him feel though, not nearly as bad, and he swore he heard those footsteps again. Looking back he could see Eight standing behind him. He couldn't exactly think straight or perhaps he would have noticed Eight's odd reaction. Eight wanted a reaction from Six, but the one he was witnessing was confusing, because he himself was now feeling like what he did was wrong. Suddenly he got a feeling of guiltiness, especially with the Artist actually looking at him.

Six wanted Eight to know exactly how he felt too. He approached Eight to say something, do anything, but ended up falling again the Bully and letting out more shaky sobs. He couldn't speak, he couldn't think, or he would have moved away quickly as he realized he was lying against the one who caused so much hurt. If Eight was in his normal frame of mind he would realize that this was the person that he had bullied so long, which meant he was supposed to shove him away, but he didn't like the noises that Six was making. Finally he actually reached out and laid his hand on the soft yarn that topped Six's head, and when the Artist began to slid down that grasped moved and instead landed on his back to keep him from sliding anymore.

Something about this whole event made them both feel strange. Hurt, guilt, and this oddly nice feeling, warm where they touched, it was just so confusing.

* * *

Five awoke and immediately realized his arm was still aching. He rubbed it half-heartedly as he opened his optic slowly, "Nine?" Suddenly someone was right in front of him, "Five, you're awake!" The sudden cry caused Five to jump a little, but he immediately was able to see that even though it looked like Nine, it had to be None. Now Nine entered his line of vision, "Is your arm feeling any better?" The healer nodded, "Much better." He suddenly felt his best friend's hand caressing his shoulder softly and it felt a little better now. "It could've been a lot worse. We were really worried about you." None now looked saddened, "I… I'm sorry Five." Five didn't like seeing him upset and put his hand on his shoulder like Nine put on himself, "It wasn't your fault, or Nine's, it just happened."

Now None unzipped himself, "I got this for you Nine… But I think that Five needs it more… I'm sorry." He plucked out the marble he retrieved earlier and handed it over to Five who took it gratefully, "Thank you." He smiled to express more words that he couldn't manage to force out of his lips and Nine smiled as well, reassuring None that it was a good idea to give Five the marble, then remembered, "Wait." He headed over to Five's bag where he reached in a retrieved the marble meant for None, "We got you one too." He handed it over to None, "Here. I'm sorry I left you." None's reaction was odd, he looked almost hurt, and looked from the marble to Nine slowly, "You didn't… I don't…" Nine pushed it into his hands, "We'll ask Two how to play with them, okay?"

"I…" None let out a whimper, "I don't deserve-." Immediately he was cut off, "Don't say that. It's all over now and I want you to see that, even though it happened, you're still my brother." He put an arm around his twin who leaned against him with a small smile. Five was also smiling at the tender brotherly affection before remembering the blue marble. "I'm going to take Two his marble, to thank him for fixing me, well, again." He took the marble and started in a random direction. Eventually he finally thought he heard Two, making an odd gasping noise, and followed it, "Two?" Five looked behind a stack of books before immediately turning around and leaving. He tried to block out the sight of Two, One, and that bright light, but couldn't.

As he headed back to Nine and None, he passed Seven and the twins. The female Warrior smiled at him, "Feeling better, Five?" Five looked over, dazed, and then answered, "I-well…. I didn't find Two and… I… I'm feeling okay…" A small pause before Seven asked, "Let me guess, you saw One and Two?" Immediately Five began to stutter before coming up with an excuse to go find Nine and None, leaving Seven smirking, and he could hear the patter of Three and Four following behind him. He made it back to Nine and None where he immediately tried to smother his look of shock. Nine noticed it though, "Is something wrong?" Five shook his head stiffly as Three and Four came in, immediately their optics locked onto the marble in None's hand since they hadn't saw the one Five had been carrying.

They looked over and catalogued it while None watched, "Do you know how to play with this?" They looked at each other, flashed in communication, and then shook their heads in sync. However, they looked curious, and suddenly took off yet again to now research marbles and see how to play with them. Nine shrugged to None, "Should we follow them?" None nodded, "Okay." Nine helped None to his feet and then turned to Five, "Are you coming?" The healer snapped out of his trance, "Oh, y-yes." He followed behind the sets of twins and they headed into the depths of the library.

* * *

**Mable: Short, I know, not very exciting, but it will pick up. Right after One and Two get finished. :D Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, the next chapter will be up soon!**


	7. Chapter Six: The Brotherly Bond

**Mable: And here's the next chapter! Not much to say, so I would again like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read and review. So here's Chapter Six! I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter Six: The Brotherly Bond_

Nine could feel himself pressed into warmth when he awoke and moved closer against it. It was only now that he realized it was someone's back and he wrapped an arm around it, thinking it was a twin. That was when he opened his optics and realized that the back was not the blank back of his twin. Instead it was a very clear '5' and Nine now slowly tugged away. He was curled up to Five, on the floor, and looking around he could see that None was completely gone. He stood quietly as to not awake his friend and began to head out of the little area of books they were located in. He now saw the twins nearby, asleep as well, and thought that leaving Five with them would be safe as he went to find None. It was somewhat confusing why None wasn't with him, but he ignored it.

Wandering through the library he now saw Seven perched on a stack of books sleeping. She was posed with her spear close to her, ready to strike if anything attacked, and Nine decided to let her rest as well. He now slipped between some stacked books and passed One and Two who were lying together, strangely pressed against each other, opened up. But Nine didn't realize what being open could mean so he just pattered by and started to keep searching. Once he got to the exit out of the library he realized that None was seemingly not there. "None?" He now called as he stood on the edge that led out into the Emptiness. That was when he saw something right outside and started towards it confused. He saw it was the marble he gave None sitting upon a piece of paper.

He approached and lifted the marble in confusion only to see the paper had scribbles on it. Looking at them he read what it said before feeling incredibly cold. Nine stood all the way up and scanned the words again before letting the marble slip from his grasp. It hit the ground and the noise was the only thing that could be heard.

* * *

Eight wasn't sure what woke him up other than what sounded like running and he tried to figure out why he was sleeping while sitting up. His back was pressed against the side of the crevice and he could feel warmth on his front. He tried to look down but felt something which he was resting his head on. It was soft, warm, and looking down Eight realized it was Six. The memories were a little blurred from just awaking but he could clearly remember Six against him, him feeling strange, and somehow he got on the floor and fell asleep. He was about to push Six away when that guilt set in again and he realized that he couldn't. Instead he slid his hand up and down Six's back a few times in an attempt to awaken him without jarring him. In only a few seconds the Artist abruptly made a jumping motion and pushed himself up as though he had been hit.

He looked around as though he had no idea where he was before looking at Eight. He didn't speak, he just stared, as did Eight, and then awkwardly pulled back a little bit. This allowed Eight to slide out and stand to his feet. Still, silence, until the guard had to ask the question plaguing his mind, "What happened last night?" If Six remembered, he wasn't admitting it, and then sort of shrugged. His destroyed room was going unnoticed by both of them as they found the floor very interesting. That's when Eight noticed some panicked voices, "What's going on?" Again, Six wasn't sure, but actually answered him, "I don't know." Eight started towards the crevice opening to go check on his leader, pausing before he could leave, and forced words out.

He didn't want to say them, but all he wanted was that annoying, throbbing guilt to go away. "I went too far yesterday." He pointed out and then exhaled as he spoke the words. It was almost like his mouth was trying to close while he spoke the words that he didn't really want to say, "Yeah, so… I'm sorry." Six was shocked, his optics widened briefly as he listened. It was shocking enough to hear him admit what he did was wrong, but apologizing, that was even more unexpected. The Artist didn't know what to say and gripped his key as he felt a tingling spread through his inner metals. "I.. I… Eight…" He, unlike Eight, wanted to get the words out but couldn't seem to manage. That's when the guard disappeared out of the crevice and caused the striped one to exhale in relief.

"Are you coming?" Eight abruptly asked and Six jumped yet again, paused, and then stood. His legs were a little wobbly from the position he slept on the floor and he almost tripped over his own feet as he followed Eight, but managed to fix himself as to not give Eight a reason to get upset with him. Neither spoke as they began to head over towards the voices. Nine's voice was frantic before it started to go quiet and apparently the male was rushing off. However, Eight and Six heard someone else, and soon found One and Two standing there. Oddly enough, One was tying Two's front closed, his voice sounding annoyed, "I would like to know what happened last night." Then Eight announced his presence so that he could halt the two from doing anything they wouldn't want to be seen.

"Boss?" One glanced back as he finished with Two, "Where have you been?" At first Eight found himself struggling for an answer to give and finally came with one, "Set up post in front of the Library." He lied and One seemed to believe him, so he questioned the voices, "What's going on?" The leader huffed, "I have no idea. Nine woke me going on about something, I couldn't hear a word he said, and then left." Two seemed much more concerned, "Something must be wrong. I hope it wasn't another beast." Now the four headed after the direction Nine went and soon found him, rambling and hysterical, with Five and Seven trying to get him to calm down while the twins watched in interest. Now One repeated Eight's question, "What is going on?"

"Nine, you're going to have to slow down." Seven reasoned with Nine who was still speaking. "It's all my fault- What will I do- I caused this- I cause everything- What if it happens again- All because of me- Why am I like this- What now- What will I-?" Five held him by his shoulders, "Nine, calm down, breathe." Now Nine did this, staring at his friend, took a deep breath and then looked pained. He looked down at the paper in his hand in almost disbelief before Two approached. Nine handed the paper over almost as though he wasn't controlling his body. The Inventor looked at the paper and read the scribbles out loud, "Nine, I am sorry. I would be better gone. Good bye." Nine clenched his fists, "It was me… He left because he still thought I was mad at him."

"Blaming yourself won't help anything." Two reassured while the others all seemed to be taking the sudden disappearance with shock and concern. "I… I don't understand why he left." Five murmured, quite disheartened. "He is too young to be alone. This decision could cost him his life!" One was obviously concerned and was showing it in his usual fashion. When Eight opened his mouth to speak, Two decided that everyone talking was too panicked, and decided to calm them all down. "We need to be rational. It doesn't matter what he was thinking when he did this, it doesn't matter that he's still a newborn, what matters is we must find him. If we saw a Cat Beast recently there is a higher chance we can see a beast again. If None runs into this beast, I doubt he'll be hurt, but it could easily trap him in a hiding spot for days."

"You wish to be pleasant but the truth is that None would more likely be attacked by the beast. We are all mature enough to hear this, we have seen it before." One explained and now Seven spoke, "We need to go find him as soon as possible. We need to check everywhere he could have gone." That's when Nine suddenly had clear moment, realizing something, and then speaking out, "No. I need to go alone." The others turned to him. "You can't go alone, Nine. I know you feel upset about this, but that's not safe." The Warrior assured, but Nine was adamant, "I know where he went. I need to go alone." A second of silence before One spoke, "Fine." Now the others were staring at the Leader in more shock, unbelieving that their leader would actually agree with Nine.

Nine nodded and then turned around and went to find his letter opener. Then he passed the other and began to run, "I'll get None and come back!" He called back as he exited the library. The Stitchpunks just stared after him before One muttered, "He is either a genius or a fool. I believe it is most likely the latter." Seven gave him a tired look before going to perch near the entrance to wait for Nine. Five went to do so as well, wishing he could have gone with him, and hoped he'd be okay. Hoping that they would both be okay.

* * *

It was miserable being back here, but None convinced himself that he belonged trapped in this room. Light filtered through the window as he curled underneath the workbench in what used to be his bed. Merely ripped rags and cloth didn't provide the warmth he got with his twin though. He felt miserable and absolutely exhausted, None let himself lay limp, and he felt the feeling of being torn in two. The attachment to his brother in their soul that made them want to be close; there had to be one as he felt the aching. Finally he let out a soft moan and gripped his head, "It's my fault! Why did I have to hurt him? I wouldn't have had to leave if…." He didn't continue because he knew what he did and he knew he put himself in this position.

None went back to lying on his side with his legs pulled up to his zippered front to try and replace the missing warmth. The night air had been cold as he walked back here, and even though the sun was now rising it seemed that he couldn't get warm. The whole walk he hoped a beast would come and he'd be attacked so that he would have an excuse to go back but it seemed that nothing was going right anymore. He loved his family so much, so he had to just let them move on without him. The thought hurt so much as he knew they would soon forget him yet again and he would be trapped here, in this room, forever. Nobody except the unknown body that didn't talk or move at all. Empty, no one at all, nobody who mattered at least.

"None!"

None jumped as he heard that voice. It couldn't be. There was no way that Nine came for him. "None!" Another cry and it was certainly Nine who was coming closer. None didn't know whether to be overjoyed or terrified, and decided that Nine couldn't find him, it was best if he didn't do anything else to his twin. He leapt to his feet and climbed onto the workbench to hide, unknowing that Nine dashed in quick enough to see his for a split second. He was relieved, "_He's here, he's okay._" He climbed up onto the table and immediately saw None over by the window. "None, I was so worried about you, thank goodness you're safe!" He rushed over and embraced his twin, cheerful and absolutely thrilled to see his brother, and held him tight.

None resisted hugging back, "Nine… You shouldn't have come… I needed to leave." Nine pulled back, "None, don't take this wrong, but you don't know what you're doing." A confusing thing to say as even None himself looked surprised that he said this. "You don't understand. We make mistakes, it happens, but leaving won't do anything but make a mistake become worse. I've made mistakes before, terrible mistakes that I'll have to live with forever, but I still stay here. What happened wasn't that bad, it wasn't too big of a mistake, and everyone forgave you. It is over now, None. Please come back with me." He again embraced his twin, "I promised you I wouldn't leave. But I can't keep that promise if you won't let me."

Once again it was silent and None could only let his weight drop against his brother. At that second he let out a moan of anguish, "What is wrong with me?" The hand stroking his head caused him to calm down a little bit, "Nothing. There is nothing wrong with you. That's why this happened, because this is what happens to us, just events that we shouldn't keep stuck on." He now spoke even softer, "I need you, None." He wasn't lying; it was slowly progressing to where he couldn't be apart from None. If hurt whenever he wasn't at least in a nearby room and Nine wasn't sure why. Maybe because he loved his brother so much, "Come back with me." Finally None came to his senses, in that second, and he nodded, "Okay, Nine. Take me home. I don't want to be here anymore."

Nine smiled and led his twin out of the First Room a step at a time. The other's hand was locked to his and the warmth between both felt comforting as they began to progress through the Emptiness. "You're really not mad?" None asked. "No, of course not." Nine responded. A few seconds passed. "Are you sure you're not mad?" None asked again to which Nine responded, "I'm sure I'm not mad. I couldn't be mad at you." A few more seconds of silence before None spoke again, "How much longer until we get home?" Nine suddenly had this bad feeling that this wasn't going to end. In fact, half way there, and None asked the same question about five times. 'How much longer?', 'Are we almost there?', and 'Where are we?' continued to appear.

Now Nine was praising his patience because he had answered this question so much already. Meanwhile, None now decided to look up at the sky and was growing accustomed to stumbling over his feet every few seconds. Then he almost fell completely over, only to be caught by Nine, "Careful." His twin nodded, laughing a little, and None smiled almost embarrassed. That was when Nine came with an idea, perhaps to completely get None over this entire incident and thinking of something else instead, "You want to go see something? It's right beside the Library." None nodded happily, "Okay!" He wanted to see whatever it was and Nine began to lead him in a slightly different direction. Eventually they were in sight of the Library and they were in an area where it was charred and dilapidated. A few bit of a building still remained, but it was mostly gone.

"This is where the Cathedral was before it burnt down." Nine explained as he gestured around. "It was really big, there was a watchtower that Five and Two made, it was home." None looked around interested, "It had to be big. Look at all this." He poked at some ash and was shocked at its texture, "Look! It turned my hand black!" He fondled the ash and got a handful before trying to get Nine to touch some, "Here, feel." Nine sort of touched it lightly to appease None, and as the other played around some, he looked around to see if he could find anything of worth. That's when None spoke, "Nine, look at this! This glass is colored!" He lifted the glass piece in his hands and looked through it, "It makes everything look blue!" Nine knew it had to be a piece from one of the stained glass windows.

"There were other pieces too that were put together to make a window that looked like a picture." Nine explained, and was soon handed the glass, "Here." Nine didn't know what to do with said glass but held it for his twin who now saw something else. "Look! There's some cloth!" He dashed over and lifted a red shred of cloth. Bringing it to his brother he felt it in his hands, "It's soft." Nine, at first, didn't think that it could be One's cape, but looking carefully realized it was at least part of his cape that managed to survive the fire. He touched it curiously and realized that it was quite soft. "This was One's cape. He lost it during the fire." None was confused, "It's so small." Nine smiled, "This is just part of it. It got ripped, torn, probably burned."

"Will he still want it?" None asked innocently and Nine paused, "It might be nice to give it to him. He might like it." His twin smiled wide, "Let's take it to him, right now, come on!" He grabbed Nine's free hand and began to run. Nine didn't think this was a very good idea but followed behind None in an attempt to keep up with his speed. The library was in sight, and they were ready to head home.

* * *

"It's Nine!" Five's voice broke out, full of joy and relief, and most of the others looked towards the entrance where he was. The healer left view and was followed by the Warrior. Then the twins ran behind them. Everyone started migrating over and Six stood to follow when he saw Eight pass. He was so confused about what happened between them. Then he felt a pulse in his head, he gripped it, and he felt the recognizable pain that went by quick and began to change to throbbing. He saw a shadow lingering on the wall and looked over only to see the darkness linger, his head started to ease, and with it the large mass disappeared, pulling back as though it was climbing on the wall. Then it was gone and the Artist felt a pang of fear.

That pain was much too familiar, it had happened many times before now, it meant only one thing…

"Is something wrong, Six?" The kindly voice caused the striped one to gasp and look back, only to see Two standing there smiling. "I-I… No. Nothing's wrong." He decided not to bring up the event and instead let the Inventor lead him behind the others. Six just hoped that this wasn't what he thought he was, and that there was no new threat, because he didn't like that dark thing. He knew he'd be drawing it later anyway so he decided that it wasn't important enough to think about now. Instead he decided to think of something else, anything else.

* * *

**Mable: Six seeing things is never good. Visions, Nightmares, Eight; poor Six. Not to mention the occasional walking in on One and Two. :D Anyway, that's all I have now, please tell me what you think, and I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible. However, I've been busy, so it might be a few days extra, I'm not sure yet. I'll try to be quick though. I hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter Seven: A family with Plans

**Mable: It took me longer than usual and was rushed, so I apologize. Right now I'm very tired and am about to fall asleep on the computer. I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed or have just read my fic. I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter Seven: A family with Plans_

When Nine and None entered the Library they were immediately bombarded by the others. They were pleased to see None though and None decided to speak. "I'm sorry for leaving." Two waved his hand in dismissal, "Oh no, my boy, it is absolutely fine! At least you are back at home safely." He patted the other's back and Seven spoke, "You had us all worried. Next time, come to us about your problems." None nodded in understanding with a small smile. That's when One spoke, "You could have been killed! What were you thinking!" He shoved his way past a silent and unfazed Eight to face the male. None, surprisingly, wasn't fazed either and still smiled as he recognize One's yelling as concern. Instead he abruptly showed him the red cloth he found earlier.

"Look! Nine said this was your cape!" One looked at the foreign cloth in the younger's hand before reaching out and taking it, his voice somewhat rushed and low as he spoke, "Yes, well, make sure this does not happen again." Then he turned around and again had to shove past Eight to escape the others. He didn't say anything and seemed to be affected by the cloth in his hand. The others ignored this while None was concerned, "Is he mad?" Two shook his head, "It is just a sore spot at the time. He's not mad, he's just being how he usually is." Though even he seemed a bit concerned. As before, None's mind wandered off to a different subject, "We found some colorful glass too!" He gestured to it in Nine's hands and his brother showed it, "I think it was from one of the windows." He pointed out.

"Could I have it?" It was usual for Six to suddenly speak out like this, most of them noticed, as he was usually concerned that it would cause Eight to show interest in him and trigger bullying. Nine handed it over, "It's alright with me. None?" None nodded in agreement and Six was given the glass which he immediately rushed off with. He said no other words to indicate what he was doing. Again None spoke, "We saw the where the Cathedral was on the way home. There was the stuff that made my hands black." He flashed his still stained hands and Nine laughed a little before explaining, "He was at the First Room so we saw the Cathedral on the way. Most of everything is gone though… I'm sorry." He suddenly down casted with guilt, and it was again waved away by Two.

"It was bound to happen. We had too many candles. And I told One that the pot was a fire hazard but he never listened." None now spoke, remembering, "Nine said you made a Watchtower. How?" Five and Two gave brief description of how they built the Watchtower, both very vigorous and enjoying speaking of their work. That's when the Twins suddenly remembered something and beckoned Nine and None to follow them into the depths of the library, which they did, trailed by Seven. Eight started off in Six's direction instead. Five began to follow the twins when he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, "Five, wait." It was Two, and he sounded distressed, so Five immediately turned to him, "Two? Is everything alright?"

"Five, I was thinking." He trailed off thinking, "You see, I was thinking about how fulfilling it was when we built the Watchtower. It became something we used daily and the loss of it has been traumatic enough." The healer began to catch on, "You want to build another Watchtower?" The Inventor smiled, "Perhaps another Watchtower right now, but perhaps something above ground. The Sanctuary was mostly above the Cathedral so that Beasts couldn't reach it. If we did that again then we could have a safe place to sleep in case a Beast comes. It could be another project that could be fulfilling." Five seemed to like the idea, he smiled, and then looked concerned, "What about One? I don't think he will like you working because of your injury."

"My injury is fine now. My legs are working perfectly. But… It will take a little convincing… I think I can persuade him." Two insisted, "I will speak to him as soon as possible." Then he had a change, "In fact, I'll go speak to him right now. You go see what the twins are up to." Five nodded, "Alright. I hope One says yes, I can't wait to be working again." Two chuckled, "I can't either. I will get One to agree." He then followed where One left and Five followed the twins. Three and Four were now opening a very thin book and pointing to a page that Nine stepped forward to read. "Marbles?" It had a brief history before going to the main thing that caught interest, "How to play Marbles." He read out loud before scanning it quickly, None looking over his shoulder.

"What does it say?" Five asked walking up and Nine looked back as he explained, "It says that to play marbles you make a circle in the ground and put the marbles in it. Then you take turns trying to knock the marbles out with larger marbles." He took a breath as a pause, "We don't have enough marbles to play." None perked, "Can we go get more?" Everyone seemed a little hesitant, but Seven was actually positive that it would be safe, "We can go together. If we're direct there and back we shouldn't find any trouble." Then None spoke honestly, "Nine, I promise I won't follow you, you don't have to worry about me." Nine instead seemed to soften, "I think that you've been out there enough to come with us." None seemed thrilled at this suggestion and smiled wide.

"But you will have to hide when I tell you too, alright?" Nine suggested and received another nod from his brother. Five looked concerned so Seven spoke, "You don't have to go if you don't want to, Five." Five shook his head, "N-No. I'm fine. I can come." He smiled a small shakier smile as they all prepared to leave. Three and Four wanted to come too, they showed it with flashes and pleased looks, so Seven decided to agree, "You both can come to. Stay nearby, no wandering off. With the gathering of their weapons and supplies, they quickly left without another word.

* * *

Two peered around the edge of the stack of books to see that One was sitting there alone. He was sitting on a book staring at the red cloth in his hand longingly. Two remembered how much One adored that cape, he could even remember how One actually smiled when Two gave it to him, and he wanted to comfort him while he was easing him into allowing him to start his new project. "One? Can we speak?" The leader forced a scoff, "I sure we can Two, we certainly have in the past." It was all fake and his lover knew this. He sat beside One and looked sympathetic. "It was only a cape, One." One glared at the cloth, "Perhaps to you, but it was more to me. It was part of everything… Everything that I lost. Nobody lost as much as I have. My cape, my home, my throne, my crown, and almost you."

Two smiled, "But you're getting it all back. In fact, I was thinking, what about building a home like the Cathedral, above ground, at the Library." One seemed to not be listening exactly, "I got you back, of course, and I am grateful. Still, it is as though I lost everything else. This cape just shows how much it was in a single ripped cloth. My mantle, my leadership, it is in tethers." Two touched One's back and rubbed it lovingly before leaning close and resting their cheeks together. "One… You are still a leader without a crown, save that piece of glass, still a leader without a throne, and still One without that cape." Then he paused and thought, "If it would make you feel better, I could make you a new one. It would look exactly the same save a few small details."

One looked over at Two, looking a bit perked, and somewhat hopeful. It deteriorated a bit, "That would be foolish. All that work for little reward to you." Two waved it off, "There would be a great reward." He embraced him with a single arm while he gently pressed his head into the crook of One's neck, "If it will help you adapt to living in the Library then it will be best. I mean, if there was something that would make me feel more adapt, wouldn't you agree to it?" Immediately One grew suspicious, "And what would make you feel comfortable here?" Two knew it was bait, but wasn't to fall into One's trap of suspicion, "I was only referring to who understanding you are to me and my needs. This cape just happens to be your need."

With that, One eased, "Thank you. If you could do this for me, I would be very grateful." Two chuckled, "Don't be so formal, One." He insisted and chuckled a bit. He felt One's recently repaired hand stroking his cheek before One pressed his forehead to Two's. "I love you, Two." Two enjoyed the contact and decided not to bring up his project with Five yet, "I love you too, One."

* * *

The piece of colored glass sent an idea spiraling through Six's head and he entered his crevice with a wide smile. His mismatched optics went to the candle that he had drug into his room while waiting for Nine and None to return. He had always loved the stained window in the Cathedral and was confident that if he put the glass in front of the candle, it could mimic the effect. He tried to work the glass into the candle wax only to find that he couldn't. The wax was too firm as the wick hadn't been lit for a while. He tried somewhat grinding it in until a voice spoke, "You're just going to break the glass." He felt a tingle that climbed his back as he realized that it was Eight standing at the crevice entrance. He looked back curiously, wondering what the other's next move was.

Eight approached and stuck his hand out as for Six to hand the glass over to him. Six was hesitant, having a memory of Eight destroying all of his things, but ended in handing the glass over to the bully. Eight took it and then pulled out his knife, lifting it until the tip was pressed to the candle top in front of the wick. He pressed down a little and it caused a small dent to be formed in the wax. He returned the knife and fit the glass into the indention. "Any matches?" Six nodded and quickly got one that was lying beside the candle, lifting it and handing it to Eight who lit the candle. As predicted, the light shined through and cast a blue glow over the room. Six smiled wide again as he was captivated by the shining light, "Thank you." His voice was soft.

"Yeah, it wasn't anything." Eight murmured, looking past the light, to Six. The Artist looked back with that same smile and Eight suddenly felt weird. There was something about how Six smiled, with that blue light cast over him, and the fact that he was happy instead of fearful or upset, that caused Eight to feel surprisingly warm. He wanted to touch Six at this very second and when Six's hand touched the glass, he found his own resting beside it. Their hands were touching, not much, but a little. Six looked up at Eight and found his own optics changing size in alarm. There was something wrong here, no, something different, and it left the Artist feeling a mix of emotions. The blue light was calming, but his insides were rushing as he felt so nervous.

That was when Eight suddenly moved away, "I have to go do something." He started to leave when Six spoke, "W-Wait." He noticed the other stopping, but not turning around, "Umm… You can stay here. If you want to. I'm going to draw and I…" His voice refused to work and Eight paused to contemplate it. Six didn't expect the answer, "Fine." He left the crevice, "I'll be back." In this time Six rushed to get his things together, least he grow unable to move when Eight returned. Eight returned shortly with a sharpening stone, Six didn't know where he got it, and then the guard sat against the wall and began to sharpen his knife. Six began to draw, watching Eight a little bit, and felt a fluttering inside. This was nice, this was better than the bullying.

Even though he swore it wasn't true, Eight liked this better too.

* * *

It was a comfortable temperature in the Emptiness which was very pleasant. The six headed through towards the location of the Marbles being led by Five who remembered the exact way they went. "Then we came down here. I think we went left, this way, and…" He trailed off and glanced back. The others were following, but not paying too much attention. His optic landed on Nine who was talking with None. None happened to say something that caused Nine to laugh, he laughed too after a second. It was only natural for Five to smile at them both. He was glad that Nine was in such a good mood after everything that had happened recently. Seven knocked him out of his thoughts, "Five?" He looked over at her, "I was just… Umm…"

"They seem happy, don't they?" She asked as she glanced back at the twins and Five nodded, "They do. Especially Nine, None has brightened him a lot." The Warrior had a flash of mischievousness, "I'm sure you would notice." Five looked over in shock, "What do you mean?" He seemed quite innocent to what she was implying and she hid her smirk, "Nothing. How much farther?" The healer looked around, "Only a little bit." That was when he suddenly caught on to what she was insinuating, or, at least realized she was insinuating something.  
"What do you mean?" She made sure he didn't see her smirk. "I just meant that you two are very close." Five nodded, smiling again, "We are. He's my best friend. Other than Two, I've never been so close to anyone."

Seven nodded in agreement, "I've noticed. He brings you out more." She sent him a reassuring look, "And I am certain that you have rubbed off on him." Five looked back at Nine and smiled, the other male saw his gaze and smiled back, and then None saw and waved. By now Five was feeling a little shy and leisurely went back to leading them to the marbles. It didn't take much longer. Once they arrived they found the same bag of marbles and immediately Five went to searching into it. "How are we going to carry them all?" None asked and Five shrugged, "Probably just carry a few each. I don't think we need too many. Is this what the big marbles looked like?" He showed the others an obviously bigger marble than the others and Nine nodded, "That's it."

Five started to hand the marbles over and the others took them, most being able to take three or four of them other than Five who was able to fit more into his bag. They started heading back to the library. It didn't take too long to get back home, and the only thing that intruded on them was a blanket of thick dark clouds. They all noticed how it was growing dark. "Looks like rain." Seven pointed out and the twins looked up intrigued. They nodded and None whispered to Nine, "Is that when the water comes out of the sky?" Nine understood his twin being a little hesitant to ask this because he thought that the others would be annoyed to answer. "Yeah, that's raining." None smiled, "I saw it raining out the window once. I was strange, but I liked it."

The sky rumbled a bit and Nine felt a second of sadness as he remembered the Life Giving Rain. The whole incident was playing by and only made him feel worse when None decided to talk to the twins who were now paying all attention to him. Nine felt himself slump, his hands clenching, and stayed like that until he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Nine?" It was Five, "Are you okay?" Nine nodded with a fake smile, "I'm okay, I'm just…" He could clearly see that Five didn't believe him the slightest and corrected himself, "I was thinking about the Incident again." Five nodded in understanding, "I had a feeling." Seeing Nine's miserable look, he leaned closer, "Nine, it wasn't your fault." His friend liked hearing those words, even if he didn't believe them, "Thanks Five."

They shared yet another smile and Nine enjoyed just standing there with Five, ignoring everything else as he realized it was okay, and then was rewarded by a drop of water landing on his head. "We better get inside." They moved apart and Five suddenly noticed that they were alone, "Where did everyone go?" Nine laughed some, honest laughing; they had been too wrapped up to notice the others had left them. He put his arm around Five's shoulders leisurely as he led him into the library. It wasn't hard to find the others located some ways in the Sanctuary to try to set up the marbles. Nine remembered something and spoke, "We're going to need to make circle on the ground. Is there any ink here?" The twins shook their heads, having recently run out, and Seven thought.

"We could borrow some from Six. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Nine nodded, gave Five a pat on the back, and then headed towards Six's crevice. It didn't take too long to get there and he checked in, "Six, could we borrow some ink?" Six was innocently drawing as he looked up and nodded. He seemed in a good mood and the zippered male entered only to notice something quite obvious nearby, or more like someone. There was Eight, sitting there, sharpening his knife, looking a little annoyed. Soon Nine had this feeling that Eight was annoyed at him, not Six, and he lifted the ink well slowly. "I'll be right back." As he started out, the Artist became curious, "What are you going to draw?" Nine smiled back, holding the ink well close as to not drop it.

"A circle. We're going to try to play marbles." This perked the striped one again, "Can I play too?" Nine had seen right, Six really was in a good mood. He nodded, "We could use extra players." As he started to walk off he could hear Six try to say something fail, and then follow Nine. If he had looked back he would have seen Six make a beckoning gesture. However, he did begin to hear that there were two sets of footsteps behind him. He didn't exactly want to look at Eight who was, for whatever reason, upset with him instead of bullying Six any. The three headed to the others' location to the large area where the others waited. "I can draw the circle." Six pointed out and the twins stood at a distance to show how big the circle had to be.

Six dipped his hand in the ink and did as told, then Three and Four began putting marbles in the circle randomly, and Nine lifted the large marble before handing it to None, "You can go first." None looked pleased and followed this to try and knock a marble out of the circle. He tried rolling the marble but wasn't able to roll it hard enough to knock a marble out of the circle. Now Nine tried it and his roll didn't knock a marble out either. "I think we're doing this wrong." Five suggested as Seven tried rolling it a little harder and got another marble to move closer to the edge. By now Eight was irritated, "I'll do it." He picked up the large marble and threw in down into where three marbles were grouped together.

Instead of a marble rolling out of the circle, there was a clunk, and Nine's world went dark.

* * *

**Mable: D8 That is all I have to say. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, the next chapter will be up as soon as I can type it!**


	9. Chapter Eight: Of aching Proportions

**Mable: Here is chapter Eight! Wow, already at eight… Anyway, another thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read. Sorry to be short, I only had a little time to type this message before posting it. I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter Eight: Of Aching Proportions_

"Eight, what were you thinking throwing it that hard?" Nine could hear Seven's voice and tried to awaken himself only to be rewarded by an aching head. Then Eight's voice, "How did I know it would fly over and smack him in the head?" Then Nine opened his optics and immediately was rewarded with a face only an inch from his. He let out a quick cry and the Stitchpunk leapt back, "He's awake!" It was None and Nine could now see everyone over him. "How did this happen?" He could hear One demanding and everyone looked at Eight who sort of lingered away. Nine spoke up, "What happened?" He could see Two enter his line of vision with Five who explained, "Eight threw the marble so hard that the other was knocked through the air and hit you in the head."

The mere explanation caused Nine to feel worse and he attempted to sit up only to be pushed down by Two. "Don't sit up too quickly. Just rest some more." The male exhaled softly and gently touched his tender head. The others were still giving Eight exasperated looks, or at least One and Seven were, and Six spoke up, "It was an accident, I saw it. Eight wasn't trying to hit Nine." Eight looked at the Artist and simply stared; he was incredibly confused as to why Six defended him. One and Seven instead didn't see anything strange and listened to Six; One a bit reluctantly as he knew Eight could have been capable at this. Looking back at Nine, they could see Two attempting to help him up now. Nine almost sat up all the way only to start to fell back from dizziness.

Thankfully, Five caught him, and was soon helping him to his feet. "Can you see it?" Nine asked with a groan and Five reassured him, "No, not at all." He didn't feel better standing up, perhaps worse, but relied on the fact that soon the ache would go away. "Here it is." None handed over a random green marble, "This is the one that hit you." By the way it hit, Nine expected a crack of some kind, but the marble seemed to come out better than he had. The twins were looking over him with concerned flashes so he reached over and gave the one that was closer a pat on the head. Judging by the number, it was Three, and soon Four came closer to receive the same treatment. Now One saw the situation as being over so he turned and left, "No more marbles."

The command was purposely ignored as only seconds later Three and Four were trying to play marbles again. Nine tried to approach them but found that he was walking clumsily, as though he was the newborn instead of None, who looked concerned, "You're not walking right." He pointed out and his twin nodded, "I just feel a little… My head really hurts." The healer now spoke in suggestion, "Maybe some water would help. The cold could ease the headache." None perked, "Are you going to pour it over his head?" Nine smiled, amused, "No, he's not going to do that." Then he looked back at Five who had this blank look, as though he suddenly had no idea what he was going to do, then fixed himself, "Right, let's go see if the water will help."

He helped Nine to walk off and Two nodded at them, deciding that they were fine, and looked over to One before approaching him. Upon seeing One looking a bit agitated though he decided to go look for cloth for the cape instead of asking about the building he and Five would be doing. He noted that the twins would probably know where this would be and addressed them. "By any chance, do you know where there could be any stored away cloth?" The twins looked at each other and then nodded before beckoning him, leading him back into the library, Seven decided to follow, "How have your legs been working?" The Inventor smiled, "Very good! I feel as young as ever! How has your ankle been?" Seven blinked, "My… Ankle?"

"The last time we saw each other, before the incident, before you left, don't you remember hurting your ankle when tripping and falling the wrong way? I never asked you about it." The Warrior smiled at the memory, "Much better. You acted as though it was one of the most serious injuries you have ever seen." He patted her shoulder affectionately, "Well, you acted like it was. 'Two, I think it's broken, I can't move it'." He mimicked playfully and she countered, "How about; 'Just calm down, I think I can fix this, just don't move too much or it can fall off'." Two gasped in mock shock, "I would not say that!" The Warrior was quite amused and laughed a little bit, "It was close." Their voices began to fade away and the final three were left alone.

One paused before going off on his own and Eight was prepared to follow only to stop as he noticed Six acting strange. The Artist was gripping his head as though he had a headache. "What's wrong with you?" Eight asked and Six looked up at him, there was this strange look, and he shook his head, "Nothing." He stood and began to head back to his crevice, moving quickly, almost as though he was frantic. The bully played with the idea of letting him go, but finally decided that whatever this was, he wanted answers. "Did you get hit with a marble too and just won't tell me?" Six spun around, practically ran over, and grabbed Eight's hand desperately, "Promise me… Promise me it… You see it, it's there, you think you should stop it, but you _can't. _You have to run!"

"Listen, I don't-." Eight couldn't get the words out before Six continued, "Listen to me! You can't fight it alone! If you do, you will be hurt, you could die! Please, promise me, on your life, because if you don't you could lose it!" The Artist tried to get the words out in a way that the Bully would understand but couldn't get past the visions plaguing his mind. It was a horrific vision and he didn't want it to happen again, his hands desperately gripped at Eight's front, and then his wrists were both caught by Eight's in a desperate attempt to keep those sharp hands from injuring either of them. "Alright, calm down, I'll run!" At those words Six calmed down enough that he stopped babbling, his head dropping, "Something… It's something… I keep seeing it."

Eight used to bully Six about these episodes, but unlike the continuation of tearing pictures, the visions were no longer something taken lightly. They all started to catch on to the fact that perhaps Six actually was seeing something and not just insane. "What was it?" Six was staring down at the ground, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember, "I don't…" He suddenly became terrified, "I don't know. A shadow… On the wall… That was the first one. The second one had you in it. The shadow was near you and you…" He fell silent, but Eight was beginning to catch on, "I tried to fight it and it got me." Six nodded, "You went towards it and it was on you. It was all dark then…" He looked upwards to Eight, "I'm scared."

The guard didn't want to do what his body was doing on its own, slowly letting down Six's arms and releasing them to fall where they hung unused, "It won't happen again. It's not coming back, it's gone, and if something does come then we're going to stop it too." Then the artist spoke up, "But you still promise?" Eight nodded, "I promise. Just warn me if you see anything else, like me doing something stupid." This seemed to put Six in good humor and he smiled, feeling relieved that someone had listened to him. "Got to go after One." Eight came up with an excuse as soon as possible to leave because he felt a little uncomfortable. "I'm… Going to find the others." Six responded, his hands clutching his key nervously, and gave a small smile.

"We're heading to the same place, I'm just going the longer way." Eight then found his hand reaching out to ruffle the yarn on Six's head like the affectionate pat Nine had given the twins. Six noticed this until he felt something different; instead of the hand immediately retracting it slid down over his cheek, like it was feeling his fabric. Then it was gone and Six realized he had let his mismatched optics close during the event. Eight was leaving now, obviously in a hurry and Six assumed to find One, but he couldn't shake this feeling. Strange enough, it wasn't fear of what was to come, it was that warm feeling that turned to tingles. It felt very good, and apparently only Eight could make him feel this nice. Perplexed, he headed after the others.

* * *

"This will do. It is absolutely perfect." Two was impressed by the red fabric that Three and Four showed him after he explained what it was for. "I should be able to sew it in a very short amount of time. It might get him out of this dreadful mood." Seven seemed exasperated, "I don't know what is wrong with him now." Then she suddenly sounded solemn, "I suppose it is hard getting over the loss of a home." Now Two finally admitted his true feelings, "I'm very concerned about One. The way he was talking made it sound like he is depressed and that is the last thing I would ever want anyone to face." Then he muttered, "Even if he doesn't let me work, I just want to put a smile on his face, even if only a small one." But Seven heard at least part of it, "What work?"

"Five and I were thinking of making some rooms above ground for safety. Sleeping up high at night would be much safer than sleeping down at beast level." The female nodded slowly, "And it gives you and Five something to do." She had that knowing smile and Two chuckled, "Exactly." Then he remembered Five, "I should go find him now." He started to the pool, soon followed by four other Stitchpunks, he noticed Six suddenly appear and sent a friendly smile. Meanwhile, at the water's edge, Nine was leaning over and felt as water was again poured over his head. "Five, this isn't really working." He pointed out and the healer decided he had dumped enough water over him, "At least we tried. Would you like to sit down?"

"Yes." Nine immediately begged and was helped into a sitting position even though he really didn't need the help. Five sat beside him and only then did Nine hear None's voice from in front of him, "Feel better?" Nine looked up and was a bit confused to find None standing half submerged in the pool. "Why are you in the water?" He asked with a smile and his twin seemed confused, "I don't know." He somewhat batted the water around in front of him playfully, and then had a mischievous smile as he sent a little bit Nine's way. It didn't reach its target and he decided to be more direct, "Nine, come play with me." It was as though Nine never heard the words before, he stared at None in shock, "You want me to get in the water?"

"Yeah." None smiled and grasped Nine's hand, tugging him expectantly, only for the twin to feel a wave of dizziness. "Wait, None, I just need a little longer. It's almost gone though." None had mixed feeling and was obviously upset that nobody was going to play with him. Five started to take off his bag, "If you want I could-." None grabbed his hand with a wide smile, "Yes!" Then tugged the healer in, almost causing the male to fall in. Once in, Five was bombarded with questions. "Have you ever been in water before? Why does it rain? Did this water come from the sky? What's that over there?" Now, as he was looking at something Five couldn't see, Five ducked under the water and hoisted None onto his shoulders.

After a brief cry of alarm, None was amazed to be lifted this high and began to smile again and laugh a bit. Five managed to maneuver around in the water and let Nine watch. That was when Two appeared, "Hello Nine, why aren't you in the water too?" He asked and Nine seemed a bit discouraged, "I still feel off balance." He felt a hand stroking his head, "And your head?" Nine smiled, "Better. No headache. It's just the off balance feeling." Two also smiled, "The dizziness is natural, it will subside soon." He sat beside him with some red cloth and removed some equipment from Five's bag to use to sew it. Seven also approached and watched the two in the water. None eventually came up with an idea and tried to stand on Five's shoulders.

"Okay… Okay…" Then None suddenly jumped out of Five's grasp and plunged into the water. He popped up a second later, laughing as though it was the most thrilling thing in the world, and unnoticing to how the Stitchpunks not in the water were splashed by his fall. By now Five noticed Two though and approached, "Did One say yes?" Two decided to angle his answer, "We'll start work tomorrow morning." Five smiled joyously before having to ask, "How did you get One to allow it?" A short pause, Two had that look that said he was hiding something, and Five understood, "Did you tell him?" Two sort of cleared his throat, "It didn't come up. However, after I fix his cape he should be willing to agree with it." Five wasn't positive, but trusted Two.

None headed to Nine, "Are you feeling better now?" His twin waited a second before nodding, "I feel better. I think I can play with you now." A complete lie, Nine didn't feel any better, but he wanted to just be able to play with him. None noticed Nine was still a bit unbalance, even when in the water, and decided to slip around him and lift him like Five had. Soon after being lifted, Nine was surprised at first but denoted that None had to have the same strength as him even though he acted younger. He decided to do as None asked, but instead ended up falling back and toppling of the other way. The sudden rush of the cool water did feel good and he stood as quickly as possible. Then he lifted None and the male soon leapt off his shoulders the correct way.

They took turns for a bit and soon Five was brought in to play as well. Two soon found himself close to being finished, "Now I just need something like that jewel. Do you two-?" The twins were gone the second he went to ask them and he smiled after them. "They're quite helpful." Seven nodded as she watched them lovingly, "They would work without rest if I didn't make them take breaks." Then looked at Two, "One isn't going to take it lightly when he catches you building off the ground with Five. He still thinks you need to recover." Two nodded slowly, "Yes, I know, but maybe if he sees the cape complete it will make him a little more pliable."

"I knew it." That voice suddenly appeared and while Seven turned back, Two sort of stiffened, hoping that it was just in his mind. Of course it wasn't and he now looked back, still trying to cover the cape, "One, this isn't what it looks like." One looked close to furious, "But it is most certainly what it sounds like! You are trying to make me more pliable with my cape so that you can build something! Must I remind you that you _lost your legs?" _The center of it wasn't that though, Two knew it, "The cape wasn't just a bribe, One. I was planning on doing it anyway. I just meant-." The leader turned, "It does not matter what you _say _you meant when I know what you meant." Then he left, leaving a saddened Two, an annoyed Seven, and now a confused Eight.

The sound of soft footsteps alerted Two that the twins were standing nearby, afraid to approach. He beckoned them, "It's okay, girls. He's not mad at you, he's mad at me." Three and Four continued closer cautiously in case he appeared. They never did like fighting, it frightened them, and most of the time it sent them fleeing the room. Four had something gripped tightly and handed it to Two who examined it. It was another red stone, shaped like a diamond from one of those cards he sometimes saw about and matched its color. "This is perfect. Perhaps if I can give him this cape it will calm him down." This was wishful thinking and it only took a little longer to finish the cape. Then he headed off, leaving the others to themselves.

Nine, None, and Five had heard the fight, but didn't know what to really say. None of the Stitchpunks there did. That's when Eight spoke, "Wait a minute…" He turned towards the twins, "They're girls?" Seven decided to pointedly ignore him.

* * *

One was a good leader. He kept his head high with dignity as he led his group along. His mind was always alight with thoughts of how to keep his family secure. Even now there were thoughts, of course he was vocally releasing them, and they weren't exactly about his group. "How could he do this?" One demanded, "He is willing to manipulate me to build something! How dare him! Manipulating me!" He found a quiet place in the back of the library that seemed secluded enough to vent his frustration. He now found some sort of cushion in the corner, torn yet useable, and settled himself on it. One's looked ready to attack anything that would appear, "Why doesn't he just usurp me off my throne now and get it over with?"

"Because I much prefer biding my time." Two's voice broke out in the teasing comment and he came out from somewhere behind One. He had somehow caught up with him after One had stormed around the Library angrily. "We are not speaking about this." One stubbornly commanded and Two came closer before holding the cape out. "I finished your cape." Still One didn't look back, "I don't want it." The Inventor exhaled patiently, "One, I know you are upset, but it's simply a miscommunication on my part." He sat down beside One and hung the cape over his shoulders, securing it in the front. "To show that I didn't mean it…" Two exhaled almost sadly, "I won't work on the project. I'll cancel it. Just… I don't want to fight again." A second passed and Two touched One's hand, "Please One-."

"You will stop every hour on the hour for a rest." One suddenly spoke, "And you will not lift anything heavy, no exceptions." The Inventor was confused, "I don't understand." One huffed in annoyance to repeat himself, "I'm not willing to fight either. You can work on your project as long as you do as I say and take precautions." Two agreed, nodding to show it, and then smiled happily, "Thank you, One. You won't regret this. Soon we will have…" He cut off and One suddenly slid his arms around his waist to move him closer. "We will have a safe place to retreat to at night…" now that mouth was on his neck, kissing, and Two sighed a bit, "Not now One; I have to go tell Five the good news." But One tugged him down onto the cushion with him, "It can wait."

Their mouths were together, massaging in warm strokes, only for One to suddenly pull back. He sat up and looked around almost as though something disturbed him. "What's wrong?" Two asked, sitting up a bit, and the leader looked around slowly, "I heard something… I heard a scratching noise." Two listened before chuckling, "It must just be the rain." He removed One's crown, "You know I don't like you covering yourself with a broken bottle." It was an attempt to rile him up, followed by playing with his headknot. One was too distracted to pay attention to the sound that disturbed him. He was soon back to Two, and that wall all that mattered. But that noise disturbed him, because it was strange, it was something he couldn't understand.

It was a scratching noise that made it sound like someone, or something, was in the Library.

* * *

**Mable: I'm starting to think One and Two like fighting. :) Also, 27's Fury was the one who suggested calling One's thing a 'headknot'. I have to admit, it's a lot easier than just calling it a 'thing'. A lot less confusing too. As for the twins, I usually always make them girls, because really it is hard to tell with them being young and unable to speak. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed, the next chapter will be up soon!**


	10. Chapter Nine: Clawing in the Night

**Mable: Chapter Nine is here!... And I am speechless… Sometimes this is the hardest part of the chapter, writing the Author Note, I'm drawing a blank… Anyway, I guess we'll just go on with the chapter then. I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter Nine: Clawing in the Night_

Nine's optics opened and immediately he heard some strange noise coming from an unknown location. It was late at night now and he could tell that he had slept for quite some time. He looked around and only then saw the very odd position he was in. It was as though the Stitchpunks had fallen asleep on top of each other with each one somehow touching another. None was cuddled to his side tightly, one of Nine's arms was stretched over Five, and his foot was propped up on one of the twins who lay beneath the three. He sat up slowly to make sure not to wake the others and was now able to see both Seven, Six, and Eight. Seven was again sleeping 'on guard' with her spear tight against her as to fight anything. Then Eight was against a tower of books, asleep, with Six's head resting on his leg.

Only then did Nine decided that it had to be coming from One and Two who were still gone and hadn't been seen since earlier. He slowly stood to his feet the rest of the way, only to awaken None who looked up tiredly, "Nine?" Nine quieted him down with a frantic hand gesture before whispering, "I'm going to go see what that sound is." None was quizzical, but soon heard that thumping and scratching noise that awoke his twin. "Can I come to?" None asked helpfully, and Nine nodded, helping his twin to his feet. He made sure to grab his letter opener and started to pass Eight only to also awaken him, "What're you doing?" Eight asked, a bit groggy and in an obviously poor mood, until he heard the loud scratching, "What's that?" Nine crouched down to whisper, "I don't know, but One and Two are still gone so we're going to go check."

Immediately Eight became concerned as he didn't like not knowing where his Leader was. He gave a quick nod, almost gently moved Six to the floor, and stood as well. Nine understood that he was coming too and they started to head across the Library. The noise was loud enough, but they couldn't tell where it was coming from because it echoed, so they headed towards the entrance instead. None, unarmed, wanted to be helpful in some way and looked for something to do. It was only then that None climbed a stack of books to look around and promptly learned how unwise it was as the books weren't stacked properly. They immediately fell over, taking None with them, and he soon met the floor. Being at the edge of the library, he hit the wall and found himself partly going into a hole in the wall.

None pulled back out of the hole only to glance back to study it and notice something in the shadows at the back of the small crevice. None couldn't see too well and couldn't really make out any of it. He began to reach in when Nine appeared and approached him, "None, are you okay?" The male decided to ignore the object for now and Nine immediately tried to move him away. It wasn't normal guiding though, None noticed that his twin was trying to purposely get him away from that area. Nine looked back at the hole like he knew what was in there; None decided to look later when he had time and Nine wasn't there. With the incident over, the twins decided to continue on their search from the noise that was now sounding much closer, almost above ground as well.

Eight had merely shrugged off the fall of the other Stitchpunk and shook his head before heading to search for One and Two on his own. "What is that?" He muttered out, hearing the grinding and scratching noise yet again. It was changing and sounded absolutely bizarre and he circling around the books to search it out. Then he looked over at the wall and stopped, unmoving, because he finally sound the source of the noise. It was climbing down the wall with its body above it, rows of little claws along its sides of its metal body to keep it attached to the wall. Then its actual arms reached before it, metal claws scraping as they felt around, as though it couldn't see anything. Its head was mostly metal with some sort of white bits that appeared to be bones, and its eyes were like a Cat beast's.

However, this wasn't a normal beast, because unlike the Cat Beast that was made out of some sort of beast called a 'Cat', this one was obviously made of the arms and head of a human. Something was just to unnerving about seeing something like a human, which Eight had seen before, turned into something so disturbing. Eight slowly unsheathed his knife, preparing to strike, but then had a flash of the earlier promise to Six. It sent a cold feeling through his metal as he realized that the nightmares were again accurate. Six's visions were seldom wrong and this thing looked as though it could easily take out a single Stitchpunk in mere seconds, so he made his choice then and started to back away. It was simple enough to find the others and then jump on it together, which would be safer.

Unfortunately, though, whatever he kicked as he walked backwards alerted the Beast and it looked towards him, making a mix between a groan and a growl. Eight resisted the urge to fight yet again and now turned to run from the Beast. It was very quick, too quick, and those arms kept coming down in an attempt to crush him or catch him, perhaps both. He was sure that the others had awoken by now. True to this thought, Two suddenly ran around a large pile of rubble to see what was occurring and let out a soft gasp. The Clawing Beast was able to hear him from only that small gasp and one of its arms flung back, hitting Two and knocking him away, then looked back in Eight's direction. Eight wasn't incredibly knowledgeable about certain subjects, but he knew immediately, by the way it looked around, that it actually was blind.

When he stood there unmoving it seemed to not notice him the slightest. Instead it turned back in Two's direction where the Inventor was trying to move away. That hit made him realize that he wasn't recovered yet as he suddenly realized his legs weren't just aching, they weren't nearly as strong as before, and weren't yet able to handle this stress. Before it could get him though, One dashed up, and helped him attempt to flee from the Beast. This, paired with Nine and None suddenly running up asking what was occurring, distracted the Clawing Beast and Two was moved to safety. The Beast started in the twins' direction before charging forward. They quickly rushed in different directions to avoid it. Eight now followed after it too, since the others were making a decent distraction.

Eight leapt for the beast and attempted to bring his knife down on it only for it to scale the wall before it and escape him. It was too high for him to reach and he backed again as he saw its head tilting to catch the smallest sounds. The others now dashed into the area where the battle was occurring. Seven saw the scene and immediately shoved the twins back to flee the scene, which they did. She them pulled her bird helmet down to cover her face and leapt towards the beast that was jumping back down from the wall towards a retreating Eight. Six stood there, almost traumatized, because even though Eight was escaping it still wasn't working. He was still getting attacked even though Six had tried to warn him. Once again the Artist stopped nothing.

Eight watched as Seven leapt on the Beast and was quickly stabbed at by the claws from its side, which she barely dodged, and then spoke up, giving himself completely away, "It can't see! It can only hear and feel!" The words were heard by the Warrior but as soon as the spear was ripped from her hands and tossed to the side, she was defenseless, and had to leap back off of the beast while Eight tried to go after one of its hands. A needle then flew by having been shot by Five and hit the Beast. The Beast was enraged and immediately went for the closest Stitchpunk it could head, being Eight. It swiped its claw forward and sent his knife out of his hands and skidding across the floor while slicing his arm open. It wasn't the first time that he had been injured, but he knew it would slow him down, especially with the Beast gaining.

Then it managed to knock him down to the ground, quickly coming over and rose above him, and began to bring its claw down. Eight anticipated the sudden blow that would tear his fabric apart. Instead, the Beast shrieked, and Eight watched as its hand came down on Seven's spear that was jutted upwards before him. It wasn't the Warrior holding the spear though, it was Six. The Clawing Beast ripped its hand away and the spear went with it. Eight watched Six in shock as the spear was ripped out of his hands. Then he stood and grabbed up Six before dashing away from the furious Beast for protection. It ripped the spear from its claw and tossed it to the side only to have a needle dive into its face. Five's aim was perfect and the desired affect was somehow achieved.

Suddenly it had trouble moving its head and Seven grabbed her fallen spear while Nine ran forward with his letter opener. He went under the beast and started to attempt to stab its underside. The Clawing Beast was trying to grab Nine while it attempted to also grab Seven who was clinging to its back. While it seemed distracted, suddenly all of the others seemed to swarm in. Eight was able to wield his knife with an injured arm and began to stab at the beast, Five continued to shoot the Beast in any spot that looked weak, and even Six came back and was trying to fight with a needle he grabbed off of the ground. Nine was shoved out of the way, only to be helped by None who took his place and was able to stab the Crawling Beast deep.

It was becoming overwhelmed, its claws on its side stopped working, and it was finished when Eight stabbed his knife into its neck. It stumbled a bit before collapsing, deceased, and no longer a threat. Now it took a few seconds to come down from the high of the fight. At this time One, Two, and the twins appeared from wherever they had been hiding during this battle. Three and Four circled to check everyone and were pleased to see that most were in good condition. Five checked Eight's arm, "I'll have to sew that." Two stepped in, limping a bit, "No, no, Five. You have done enough already." He retrieved the medical equipment from Five's bag and led Eight away from the beast to work on him. One followed them, watching Two carefully, and Five approached Nine who was nearby with None, "Are you two okay?"

Nine nodded, "Yeah." He could tell that None was okay and when Seven wandered over they saw she was fine as well. Six could be seen, looking quite forlorn, pattering off behind Eight and None spoke, "Six?" The Artist looked back, slowly looked at the floor, and then continued onwards. It immediately caught the others' attention and Seven followed, "I'm going to go check on him." Meanwhile, Five slowly started to follow them all to actually follow Two and was soon trailed by Nine and None who were tiredly leaning on each other.

* * *

"Almost done." Two smiled at Eight pleasantly, "You're doing very good. This is quite a big tear and you're dealing with it very well." Eight gave a nod like it didn't matter when he really was just making sure he didn't start swearing. That needle dipping in and out of his fabric was pure torture. He looked over to see Six approaching, looking upset, and he went to speak. Instead the needle went back in and he let out a low series of curse words that Two could obviously hear and chuckled at. The Artist was instead taken aside by Seven and they spoke. The guard watched as Seven asked something, Six looked upset, and then the female actually hugged the Artist. Eight was feeling mixed; he knew that Seven comforting Six was a normal, good thing, but he somewhat didn't like seeing them hug like that.

Then Seven gestured to Eight and before Six could look over, the male turned away, only to see Two a second from putting that needle back through his fabric. He did and with a few quick more stitches he was done. "There you are." He patted Eight's shoulder before standing wobbly, "Oh Five," He called, "About our project-." Eight looked back to find Six only to see the Artist staring right at him. He looked down for a second before coming closer, "Eight…" He wasn't good with words, at all, and he clutched his key before speaking, "I'm sorry… I didn't help you… I couldn't stop it…." He looked down while Eight was confused, "You stabbed that thing in the hand before it did another one of these," He gestured to his arm, "And you didn't help me?"

"I could've stopped it." The Artist muttered before turning away, "I… Can't do _anything_." He began leaving the area as quick as possible and Eight stood, "Six!" The other didn't answer and he swore yet again before following his trail. He managed to stop him, "Don't make me defend you." Six looked up sadly, "But I can't. Not worth even trying." The guard sighed, "That's not true. You're just tired." He began trying to move Six to his crevice, but the male seemed still upset, "If you didn't say what you did, I would've died." Then he ran his hand over Six's number, "Come on, I'm tired, and if we don't go Two'll come back with his needle." The Artist nodded and leaned again the guard for a second before they began to head to his crevice room.

This meant passing the others who were too entwined in listening to Five and Two's plans to notice them. However, the leader noticed them leaving, and it inspired One take Two and head back to sleep. "It is still in the middle of the night and that thing tossed you about like a ragdoll. We can discuss this is the morning." Suddenly he was nearly dragging Two away with one hand on his back to lead, the Inventor making sure to get out a few more words, "Yes, we really should. Five, tomorrow we shall begin at morning light, so make sure to get as much rest as possible." The last of that was practically cried out as he was drug out of the vicinity. Then he gave a wave that was returned by a somewhat hesitant None. It then seemed much quieter.

Seven shook her head, Five was somewhat confused, and the twins looked at their respective twin in a way of asking what occurred. "At least he's a little right." The female spoke up, "We need to get some sleep. Eight, tomorrow we have to move the Beast's body…" She fell silent when she saw the guard gone, "Where did hego now?" Three and Four shrugged together and she shook her head, "Never mind, he'll appear." Like One did with Two, Seven led the twins with a hand on each back. The remaining three males started to follow, Nine looking at Five, "Thanks." Five seemed confused, "For what?" Nine smiled, "For being there for us. We wouldn't have been able to stop the beast without you and your aim." The healer looked down shyly, "It was nothing."

He paused briefly, then continued, "If anyone was needed, it was you, you were able to get under it and… Sometimes you worry me." It was an afterthought and he didn't realize he had said it. The Nine looked over in shock, "I worry you?" Five was alarmed, tried to think up words, and then spoke, "Sometimes I worry that you will get hurt. You worry more about the others than yourself." The zippered one responded quietly, "I think you confused you and me." The healer seemed taken aback, "No, I didn't-." Nine insisted, "Five, you can't say it's not true, you care more about everyone else than you do yourself, you risked yourself to save me many times, I just can't seem to return the favor." Five smiled shyly, "I just do what I can. I'm sure you'd do the same."

Five started to continue walking when Nine embraced him out of nowhere. "Nine?" The one eyed male's voice was a bit confused, but his friend didn't answer him, he just held him close. Because only now did he realize how close he was to losing him once again. He only felt anyway better when Five decided to hug back, the two held each other, and then suddenly Nine felt another arm around him. For whatever reason, None decided to intrude on their moment to embrace them as well. Nine moved his hand up to pet his twin's head for a second and at this time Five moved back. None must have alerted him to what he was doing and he looked quite. "I-umm-well-We should- We should go to bed." Nine nodded in agreement and followed the male who was heading back to the area where they had been sleeping.

At this time None remembered that object in the back of the hole and paused to ponder what it was. Finally he decided to look in the morning, he was much too tired to worry about it tonight.

* * *

**Mable: End of Chapter! I could have some witty little note here that everyone could be impressed at, but my mind is fried and all I can see in letters, even when I look away from the screen. The next chapter shall be up soon! I hope you enjoyed!**


	11. Chapter Ten: Haunted by past Mistakes

**Mable: Here we are, chapter ten! We're nearing the end of the fic, unfortunately for me, I really had fun writing this. I'd say maybe I'd write a sequel, but that's a slim chance, though I plan to certainly write more fics… This isn't the last chapter though! I was just getting sentimental because we're nearing it. I mean… I've only hit a few chapter tens… I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed or simply read and I hope they enjoy this chapter and the next ones. I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter Ten: Haunted by past Mistakes_

It had begun like a typical day and Five was pleased to see Two who was ready to work. They began working early and found an area where they were able to climb higher up to begin building the first platform. Everything had been going good until suddenly something changed. Two was using a makeshift hammer, really just a decent sized rock, to nail the platform securely to the wall when he suddenly felt tired. Then it changed as he grasped his middle with his free hand. Something inside was painful and he doubled over with a low groan. Five noticed this and came to his aid, "Two?" The Inventor smiled and forced a chuckle, "I must have strained myself hammering. Perhaps I need to take a short rest." Five nodded and took the hammer before setting it to the side.

Two began to stand only to gasp and fallback over, holding onto the wall desperately and feeling his insides pained. His head began spinning, he felt wrong and the vertigo was sudden, and Five started trying to hold him up. "Two are you-." He gasped as soon as he made contact and reached up to touch Two's head, "You're overheating." Even though somewhat fearful, Two kept calm and straightened himself. "I'm alright. Just… Could you help me get down to the water to cool myself." The healer nodded and helped the male walk. Two suddenly remember the beast hitting him last night and became concerned that it could be causing his pain. It didn't take too long to get back to the water and the Inventor started rubbing his damp hand across his face.

The pain in his middle grew and Five was horrified to hear Two let out what could only been known as a whimper. He began to try and pet his mentor to help him, but finally Two started to gain control, only to feel quite fatigued. "I think I need to rest." Five nodded and went to help him up, the Inventor directed him to the cushion he had slept on the night before and he laid down weakly. The younger was very concerned, "Should I get One?" Immediately Two spoke against it, "No, he'll make us stop working. I'm… I'm fine Five; I just need some rest, could you wake me in a couple of hours?" Five nodded loyally and squeezed his mentor's hand, "I will. You just rest." Then he slowly left, watching the tired optics close and his mentor let out a sigh of contentment. Feeling better since the pain was now gone.

Five was very concerned at how suddenly Two went from feeling fine to being in pain. However, he decided to keep it hidden and not tell anyone. Though Five knew he would have to if this got any worse and decided to only wait with hope that Two just worked too hard. To take his mind off of it and waste some time he went to go find the others. He found them with the Twins who were working to catalogue more old newspaper clippings and objects. One was talking to Seven and Nine about something and None was watching the twins, so Five approached him pleasantly. "Good morning, None." He looked over and smiled, "Hello Five, is something wrong?" A single sentence and he could already tell that something was bothering the male.

"No… Not really… Just taking a break from work." He watched the book's pages being turned by the twins until None spoke up, "What's that?" The twins were hesitant to move to the page, but finally did, and the Stitchpunk was able to see the large beast in the newspaper clipping, "What is that?" He asked again and Five explained, "It was called the Fabrication Machine. It made all of the other beasts, tried to take our souls, but we stopped it." None stared at it, alarmed, and then whispered softly, "From the book…" Five couldn't hear him and looked over, "I'm sorry?" None shook his head, "Nothing. It doesn't matter." He smiled to show he was fine and suddenly One's voice broke out, "At least that vile thing is no more." The leader glared at the book before looking at Five, "Where is Two?"

"Oh… He said he wanted to take a rest…" He expected One to be suspicious, but because One told Two he wanted him to take rests he was not, in fact he was quite pleased. "Very good. If you excuse me." He walked off to possibly find the Inventor. Nine noticed how entrance None was and nervous Five was, "Guys?" Five fixed himself and None pretended to look away, "I… Well… Yes?" Five smiled and Nine looked at him confused, glanced at Seven who had the same look, and they decided to let it drop. The pages were turned again and for now the Beast went forgotten.

* * *

Eight heard that scratching noise again and immediately envisioned the Crawling Beast coming back. When he actually awoke he saw that the noise was coming from Six who was now drawing a little ways away instead of sleeping. Those pen tipped hands were scratching violently at the paper, not careful like usual, not even as wild as they went after a nightmare, this just seemed odd. Then he caught a glimpse of Six's face as he looked to his ink well and could clearly see a troubled expression. He forced himself to sit up, stared at Six's back, and then stood, starting over, "Six?" He cast a shadow over the smaller from the angle of the candle and for a second he shivered like he would when he used to be bullied. Eight wasn't sure exactly why, but recently he actually began to loath memories of what he did to the Artist.

"Eight…" Six's voice was soft and carried that heavy emotion with it. The guard was very suspicious, "What are you doing?" Six now stood, clutching his newest drawing, and headed to the wall to put it up, "Drawing." Only now did Eight realize the sudden onslaught of pictures that now were on the walls. Having only been a few the day before he was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together, "Did you sleep last night?" The Artist paused, refusing to look at Eight, and then spoke, "A little bit…" Eight glared, "You mean, you slept until I went to sleep?" He saw the yarn above his head sway a bit as he nodded. "I had to draw." Slowly, Eight was becoming more and more aware of something being wrong, and he wasn't willing to back down from this now.

"This is about that beast again; I told you already it wasn't your fault." Six now looked back at him, looking between sad, ashamed, and mostly determined, "Can't let it happen again. Have to be right, can't fail again, it will happen again, have to… Have to…" He was too delusional and tired to say anything that would make sense, and he knew it. He clutched his head, even more ink staining his head, "Why, why, why?" He began just repeating that word, questioning everything, his nightmares, himself, everything. Eight wanted to stop this because at this second he could hear that noise that previously turned into crying before. He had to stop it, "Six." His voice was on edge and his hands went up in defense. Six shook his head, pen tipped hands still clawing at his own fabric.

Finally Eight had an idea, possibly a bad one, but it seemed enough to at least cause Six to pause for a bit. He reached out and grasped Six's by his shoulders, turning him to face him and attempting to pry his hands away before he accidently hurt himself. "Six, look at me." The Artist slowly slid his optics upwards to meet Eight's; they were unblinking, and looked mostly exhausted. Then Eight decided to go through with it, just like One had done to Too many times, and leaned closer to press his lips to Six's. The Artist's optics changed size dramatically at this surprising action, even though he had no idea what it could possibly mean. It felt good though. It was so warm and tender, softly rubbing against his, and eventually Six found that he wanted to push into it too.

Eight was kind of confused on what to do after pressing their lips together, but somehow felt wonderful when Six was pressing back. Massaging lips, stroking, and it grew more and more pleasing until they found everything else gone. Six felt his back hit the wall, slowly pressing against it as his legs started to wobble. He gripped onto Eight's arms to attempt to keep him up. Eight only half registered Six grasping him, but was too entwined to think of anything except how good this was. Then weird thoughts started going through his head, things he couldn't fathom, and most of them involved whatever kind of relationship they had. He couldn't understand what the bullying turned into, but was quite sure it was something good.

Then there was a sharp intake from the door and both realized they weren't alone. Eight moved back from Six quickly and then seemed to grow much slower as he turned to look at the door. "Sorry-umm-I didn't-Well-I-Umm-Sorry." With that ramble, Five disappeared again, probably trying to get that picture out of his mind. The other two Stitchpunks both found the same situation occurring; their voices seemed to be gone. They didn't know what to say until Eight spoke, "I'm going to go find him." Each word was spaced out and it came out more like a question than a statement. Six tried to force words out, his words weren't nearly as stable as Eight's, "I… Need sleep." Eight nodded, "Yeah." They moved away from each other and the Artist almost fell down the wall.

The guard almost ran out of the room and Six stumbled to his bed where he collapsed on it. That bit of pleasure finally eased his mind and he actually felt able to sleep comfortably. However, he only then realized how that tingly feeling before had returned, so much stronger than before, and was lingering inside. Meanwhile, Eight was becoming frantic, suddenly imagining One yelling at him about what he did with Six. All because Five saw and could easily tell anyone and everyone about what Eight did. Eight wasn't even sure what he did except it felt amazing and that for some reason he only wanted to do it with the Artist who was slowly overtaking his every thought. At this time he saw Five, standing some ways away from Seven, Nine, and the twins.

He hurried over and sort of moved to a position where he blocked Five's escape route, "Five, that wasn't what you thought." Five looked down at the ground, "I don't know what you're talking about." Eight saw past his pretending it didn't happen, "Yeah you do. It was an accident, I fell on him, and it looked like we were doing something that we weren't even doing." Still the Healer was adamant to pretend it didn't happen, "I have to go." Finally Eight got to the main concern, "You can't tell anyone, Five. No matter what, you can't tell anyone, or I'm dead." Five nodded immediately, speaking as calm as possible, "It didn't happen." Eight huffed, "No, it did happen, I'm telling you not to…" He paused, "Never mind, never happened." Then he decided to try to avoid Five for some time, Five decided to do the same thing.

* * *

Two awoke to feel quite refreshed and even a bit exhilarated. He felt quite good and wondered what had woken him only to look over and see One standing right there, somewhat startled but kept calm, "One, I was just-." One waved it off, "Five told me. I am impressed; for once you've actually done as I asked from you." The Inventor caught on quickly and, seeing as though his pain was gone, ignored it completely and spoke, "I didn't want to risk overworking and suffering for it." He began to slowly stand and could hear One still speaking out of his line of view, "Yes, understandable. I could tell you were injured yesterday when that beast attacked you, at least that became nothing." At that second Two started to stand and felt a second of dizziness that quickly passed.

"I was just shaken up a bit." Slowly the feeling of dizziness came back again, along with this weird clenching in his middle, but he tried to hide it. "Nothing to worry about." One nodded, "It eases my mind a bit. UI still cannot help but worry about you. You care nothing of your health." Looking over, Two realized that One wasn't looking at him, and took this opportunity to try and fix himself, knowing he would soon have to peer inside and see what was really occurring. "I might go search out Five." One nodded, subtly approached Two and chastely pressed their lips together, then allowed Two to scurry off. As he got out of view, Two let himself slowly growing more and more strange, dizzy, confused, and then suddenly he let out a noise that could only be considered a sob.

A few minutes later Five found him, "Two, you're awake! How are you feeling?" He could see the Inventor tying his front up like he was previously opened and was curious about it. Two smiled, but Five could tell something was occurring, even though Two didn't say what, "Much better, but still a little tired. If you'd like we can do a little work." The healer shook his head, "No, we can work anytime, you should rest now." Then Two said something odd, "Well alright… But I'd like to see us get the work done… As soon as possible." Suddenly the one eyed Stitchpunk felt a wave of dread fill him. Something there sounded too weird, but Two came close, an arm around Five's shoulders, and led him along, "It will be nice once it's finished… We should try to accomplish as much as we can with this. Perhaps even start another project right after."

It was around this time that they ran into Nine, Seven, and None. Two greeted them and they began to speak cheerfully even though Five felt uneasy, wanting to know what was making Two act so strange, and hurt so much. It wasn't him who wasn't paying any attention to the conversation though. None was nodding and acting to be paying attention, but something else was plaguing his mind, that hidden object that he only saw a glance of. Slowly he began to wander off, trying to look like he was innocently looking around, before quickly heading past the books and heading to the other side of the Library. It took some time to find the hole which he reached in and found this very bizarre object. It was confusing, but he remembered it.

Then he gasped as he remembered the one book he could read, written and put away in the First Room, and this drawn in it. There was one page that had taken interest and he wanted to know more. He hurried to the Twins' book and began to search through the pages to when he found the one with the Fabrication Machine. It was that one, that's the one, and then he looked over to see something pasted to the page alongside it and his optics took interest.

* * *

Nine only realized that None was gone after he trailed from his conversation with the others. "Where's None?" The others looked around before Two suggested, "Perhaps he's with the twins." They began to search and, upon finding the twins without None, Nine suddenly remembered what occurred during the Beast's attack. "He wouldn't have…" he suddenly began to sprint towards the other side of the library. "Nine?" Seven asked confused before following, the others following slower. Nine managed to get to the hiding spot and reached into it, "No… None, no." He muttered in panic and Seven came up behind him, "Nine, why are you looking in there?" Nine looked up in panic, "None found the Talisman!" Silence filled the room.

Then Nine began to run in another direction, barely caring about anyone other than his twin, "I have to check the book!" He just had this feeling that led him to the main object of the twin's work and the male rushed to the book only to see it opened to a series of pictures, one being the picture of the Fabrication Machine. It was a single picture in particular caught his attention near it and Nine was horrified to see it was a make shift map, leading straight to an area that was marked in a black hue with a single dark eye. He ripped the picture away from the page, much to the horror of Three and Four, and suddenly began to run again, this time to Six's crevice. "Why did you draw this?! Did you give it to None?!" Six sort of jumped at the sudden yell, having been sleeping, and looked confused, "Did I… Did… What?" He came forward, his voice full of fear, terror, and desperate, "Did you tell him about this map?"

Six looked at the map in confusion, now it was much closer, "I can't… I didn't tell None anything." Nine was now panicking worse, "He had to say something! Why would you-?!" Suddenly a large hand was on his shoulder, ripping him back, and he immediately seemed to be knocked out of the state he was in. Eight was the one who suddenly grabbed him, "What's wrong with you?!" He demanded, obviously very angry, and Nine just stared at the floor. Behind Eight was a very annoyed One who seemed to also be oblivious to what was occurring. Six then spoke up, trying to defuse the situation, "I drew that after the Incident. It was just a map for the twins." Nine's optics closed, "It leads to it, doesn't it?" He pulled away from Eight and looked to the others, "He took the Talisman and he's heading to the Fabrication Machine…"

The others only now saw exactly what was disturbing him and Five tried, "He… He doesn't know how to wake it up, does he? Can it be woken back up?" He began to slowly grow worked up as though he was going to hyperventilate. Two was still staring at the drawing when he stroked Five's shoulder, "I'm not sure. What is confusing enough is why he wanted to get to the Machine." Nine shook his head, "We're twins; what if he puts the Talisman in the Fabrication Machine? I… I can't lose my brother. I have to go after him." Seven seemed determined, "We'll come too. We let you go alone before, but this time it involves of all." The panicking Five nodded in agreement, and the others were determined to come. "That's good." Nine started, "I'll get a head start." Then dashed off without another word.

"If None wakes it our lives are all in danger." Two insisted and began to follow Nine, only to feel a little dizzy, the others now noticed his stumbling movements. "What are you doing?" One asked and Two looked back, "I'm following Nine." He insisted, but the way he was swaying showed how he could barely stand. Then, only a few more footsteps, and he clutched his middle and bowed over. Five gasped and rushed forward only to be reassured by Two who attempted to stop him. "No, Five, I'm fine, I'm just going to lie down." He lay on the ground and One was a mix between still confused and horrified, "Right there? On the floor?" Then he caught on, "You were injured, weren't you?! You've been lying the entire time you said you were fine!"

"We need to go after, Nine. Will you be okay?" Seven asked down at Two and the male nodded, "Go." Five touched his hand and Two stroked it before pushing it away, "Go, I'll be fine, but be careful." The healer nodded, knowing he was serious, and then ran after Nine with Seven. The others were left behind for a brief time, "Eight, Six, you two will come with me. Help me move Two first." They did, moving Two back to the cushion, where the male was laid on the pillow, "We will be leaving immediately." One insisted, "You two grab any weapons. Three, Four, you will stay here and watch Two." The he looked over to Two, "Two…" Then huffed, "You drive me insane." The Inventor smiled, "Don't you like it?" The leader kissed his lover gently before moving back.

"Five and I will look at you when we come back. Rest." One didn't seem upset at all anymore and began to leave, leaving Two to lie limp against the cushion, silently trying to rest his pained insides. He could only wish and pray for the best.

* * *

**Mable: Two is in pain, None is waking Beasts, Eight can't grasp pretending that something didn't happen; The Stitchpunks are having some strange luck here. :) Anyway, I will update the next chapter as soon as possible, I hope you enjoyed!**


	12. Chapter Eleven: Never Forgetting

**Mable: Wow… This is the second to last chapter. The next chapter is officially the last one and… We're so close to the end and I'm shivering from excitement and sadness. I plan to write more **_**9 **_**fics though, hopefully ones that get as many reviews as this one did. I would like to thank everyone who read and reviewed or simply read. I will have a special thanking to everyone individually on the last chapter. Because I, truthfully, would like to thank everyone who's been so supportive to me. I never thought anyone would read, it is the greatest confidence booster that you have. Yeah, well, now time to suck it up and move on with the chapter… I kind of rushed, but I still am posting now. I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter Eleven: Never Forgetting _

None was amazed at the sheer size of the beast before him and stared up at it. No longer working, the Fabrication Machine laid there, the place to put the Talisman in was right before None. He held the Talisman tightly before him, not sure how long he had been standing there, and only then did something finally happened. The Beast didn't move, None didn't move, but something crashed into None and began trying to yank the Talisman from his grasp, "Don't do it!" He could clearly recognize his brother's voice, "Nine?!" The twin looked terrified, "Don't put it in! It will wake it up!" None then cried back, "I wasn't going to!" They had a brief tug of war between the two of them before Nine finally released the Talisman and None almost tumbled backwards.

"That's what will bring it back to life." Nine explained calmly and None looked horrified, "No, that's not true. You don't understand." His brother was certainly sure, "Yes it will. It woke it up before, it might make it awaken again, and we can't let it." His twin was desperate, "Nine, it's already is awake! The outside is dead, but the inside still lives, and it will come after us someday!" Perhaps Nine simply wouldn't believe it out of denial, but he couldn't fathom it. "In the book it said it. This… This book I read in the First Room, a long time ago, said it. This does things to the outside, but the outside is controlled by the inside, and all you stopped was the outside. I came to stop the inside. I didn't want it to hurt everyone… I know it did before…" Nine closed his optics, "Who… Who told you everything?" He asked almost sadly.

"Nobody. I just know." None gripped the Talisman tighter, "Sometimes I think strange things, I thought maybe I was like Six, and then I realized I was seeing some things that you saw. I think it's because we're twins. I don't see a lot, but I can feel it, I feel afraid and I know it was you who was so scared." The twin bond seemed reasonable as Three and Four had one as well and his brother didn't know what to say. Then the zippered Stitchpunk suddenly began to get this uneasy feeling and could swear he heard some sort of voice from around him. "We don't know how to stop it, or even if the book is right, we need to find the others and then we can think about a plan." None shook his head, "I can't go back knowing it knows that we know that it's alive."

That voice was circling him, whispering, rambling, and Nine felt desperate to leave at this very second. "None, we can't stay here, we can't stop it if it's still alive. What do you plan to even do?" His twin looked at the dark eye, "… Go inside and… Stop the inside?" It was obvious that he barely thought through this plan and even now he looked discouraged beyond belief. "There has to be a way… But the book said nothing… Maybe our creator didn't make is stoppable." The thought was even more horrific than any other, "The Scientist wouldn't have-… Father wouldn't-… It's not- What is that noise?" Nine asked as that whispering, low, understandable voice continued to come from somewhere around him. He wasn't sure exactly where though.

None heard the voice to and looked to the Fabrication Machine, "Could it be from that?" He moved closer and pressed his audio receptor against the cold metal while Nine looked back, "No, it's probably the others, they were coming too but they must have gotten lost or-." There was a gasping noise from None and Nine knew that his suggestions were wrong, "It _is_ from the Beast." At that very second there was a grinding noise, a cracking noise of metal being bent, moved, anything, and Nine grabbed his twin to pull him away. Only then did he realize that when None was listening, the Talisman had actually touched the Machine, and now it was moving, because it really had been alive. It looked like just as much of a shell as it always had though.

Of course, that was until something burst from its side. It looked like one of its own arms ripping through the metal before opening itself as to damage its own body. Nine got before None, holding his letter opener before him in defense, and watched as something happened that he had only seen in nightmares. Another arm came out beside the first one and they began to force the gaping hole open farther before both, and whatever they were attached to, fell out and onto the ground. All Nine could see was a mess of the arms, perhaps three of them, now unmoving. He gently pushed None back and stepped closer in an attempt to see this. Then the arms moved, lifting the core off of the ground, and Nine found himself taken aback.

The core was made of metal, its body hanging limp as it used only the three powerful arms to move, and as it looked up its optics opened and revealed the blood red color only known by the Fabrication Machine; even so, it was obviously once Stitchpunk. Nine soon found himself again seeing more confusing and unbelievable things as this Fabrication Stitchpunk as it, which was ways away, suddenly moved so quickly that Nine was pinned on the ground by one of its arms. It looked down at him with this emotionless look, no feeling, just staring, and he could see that on its chest was the same slot for the Talisman as on the Outer Shell. "None." Nine whispered, hoarsely as the claws were now pressing into his chest, "Run." But he had a feeling his twin wouldn't leave him.

Instead, None grabbed the letter opener Nine dropped and tried to hit the Fabrication Stitchpunk. It easily caught the attack with its other hand, using the third to hold itself off the ground. Not once did it look away from Nine, because those red optics were only trained on him, as though it looked through him and could see his soul. Finally it moved elsewise and attempted to grab None, managing to get him by the leg and ripped him forward. It looked over him, and then there was the sound of whispers again. Now Nine knew why he couldn't understand them; they weren't real words, they were completely incomprehensible. By the way they were now appearing, quickly, though still quiet yet subtly raising and lowering in volume, he guessed that it was angry.

Then Nine saw that None no longer had the Talisman and gasped as he watched the Fabrication Machine force his zipper down. Now its real arms moved to violently search through None insides only to find the Talisman gone. It was furious and as its body again went limp, it lifted None and through him aside. The twin was unharmed, but obviously shaken, and the Fabrication Stitchpunk soon began to search the surrounding area. Nine began to be dragged as that grasp was still on him. With that gaze no longer on him, he began to try and break free, but it was seemingly impossible. Then, out of nowhere, there came a white blur; Seven. She seemed shocked but had recovered quick enough to stab into its arm holding Nine. The spear went through, but it was unfazed, and instead grabbed her as well.

It held her down and seemed to not acknowledge the needle that flew by it and instead opened her toggle to search her insides. Once again, no Talisman, and those furious whispers occurred before he tossed her away, purposely throwing her at Five who almost hit him with a needle. It then turned to Nine, scrutinizing almost, and yanked down his own zipper to see if it could have possibly gotten inside. Upon seeing nothing, it straightened itself, lifted Nine up, and then threw him far enough that he hit the outer shell. It was painful, but he quickly got up, knowing he had to find the Talisman, "Are you alright?!" Five managed to make it over to him, "What- What is that?!" Nine took a few shaky breaths before answering, "It's the Fabrication Machine's inside! We only destroyed the outside!"

Then Five pointed something else out, after a few seconds of panicked looks, "But if it is the inside, it needed to be protected, how is it this strong?" Nine briefly saw Seven go at it and the Beast again knocked her away. "It won't let us attack… Maybe it's really weak to us! Our attacks will harm it if they get through!" Five seemed to agree with this and began trying to shoot at the Fabrication Stitchpunk. It looked towards the two, saw them congregating, and took this as a sign that they had the Talisman now. The one arm almost stabbed at them and both leapt away at once before Five began to shoot at the Fabrication Stitchpunk. It dodged every attack, barely moving while it sped on, until it was right before Nine. At this time Seven dug her spear into one of its arms, to which it didn't even flinch and knocked her away.

Nine saw clearly that the arm was damaged though and spoke up, "The arms can be hurt!" Seven saw the damage as well, "It always defends itself with its arms. If we could get rid of them, it would be defenseless." They all nodded in agreement, basically to themselves, and the Warrior leapt again, this time targeted at the arms. The four didn't realize that the Fabrication Stitchpunk clearly listened to them and knew exactly what they were to do. It almost ripped Seven out of the air and held her in a steadily tightening vice-like grip. At first she was able to bare it, then she began to feel the pain steadily rising and let out a cry as it tried to crush her metals. With Five trying to shoot at it, Nine ran to grab his letter opener, "None, stay back!" He commanded to his twin before heading to the Beast.

It was most likely luck that allowed Eight, One, and Six to suddenly run up. Of course, all three were quite shocked at seeing this creature, One's optics dramatically widening from their normal slants, but immediately he commanded Eight to attack. The guard did as told and attempted to bring his knife down at the same time Nine tried to attack. The Fabrication Stitchpunk held Seven before it like a shield, and so Nine stopped, but Eight was able to circle back and hit the injured arm upon seeing the slight damage. Now the damage was visible, the arm was no longer working and every time it was moved the wound seemed to grow in length. It slammed Seven to the ground and then ignored her as it began to head towards Eight is a threatening manner.

As before, Six came to Eight's aid, wielding nothing but a sharp hairpin, but this time he was knocked aside right away. The event did send a sort of irritated energy through Eight and he sprung forward, trying to slash at the Beast. Said Beast began to move back in a retreating motion. Nine continued trying to attack as well and the Fabrication Stitchpunk tried to grab for him, unfortunately for it this left its one arm open for attack, and the third arm was hit by Eight. The damaged arm didn't withstand any move attacks, it broke off where the wound was and the Fabrication Stitchpunk was forced to use only its two remaining arms. One crossed to None, "Where is the Talisman?" None looked terrified, "I don't know! I put it down to get the letter opener!" Both began to frantically search out the object that the Fabrication Stitchpunk wanted in its grasp.

Nine noticed immediately when it was again looking at him because he was bathed in red light. The two arms drug it along while the stub of one laid limp. Why it was aiming for him was unknown, but it certainly wanted him, until it saw something else. None and One, searching, and it witnessed the second None lifted the Talisman from the ground. It was slightly slower, but immediately dashed in the direction of the Stitchpunk. One immediately shoved None in the other direction, "Run! Now!" He had nothing to defend himself and had to simply stand there between the Beast and the younger. Instead the Beast merely lifted its body over him and continued past after the Stitchpunk, being gained on by the others, and One just standing there unable to do much.

Five managed to get a shot in and the needle pierced the distracted beast's arm. It looked down at it, staring, unfazed, before continuing after None. Its arm now began to move strangely as the needle was actually penetrating into the inner workings. Then the Fabrication Stitchpunk reached out and grabbed None with its damaged arm. It lifted him a bit and brought him down hard onto the ground, causing the desired result as the Talisman fell from None's grasp. Nine managed to get there at that second and stabbed his letter opener into the working arm that it was resting on while it used the other. It began to falter and attempted to knock Nine away, but the others were closing in. A weak Seven, a furious Eight, and Five approached over and began to attack while Nine grabbed None, and the Talisman, and tried to move them away.

The arms were separated from the Fabrication Stitchpunk's body completely, after destroyed even the remaining parts of the limbs dropped off. The Stitchpunk body was now laying limp, optics closed, unmoving. The Stitchpunks above it all easily felt the same unnerving feeling that was sent by seeing something that looked like them such as this. "It's over…" One murmured to the others. At this time Nine and None came back, but stayed silent. Nine took a minute to stare at the Talisman before speaking to his twin, "None… I'm sorry." None looked over in confusion, "Sorry?" His brother nodded, "I should have believed you… I should have made sure that it was destroyed before this." None embraced his brother lovingly, "Don't be sorry. It's okay now."

The sound of footsteps interrupted them and suddenly there came the other set of twins and Two. One started in alarm, "What are you doing?" Two was somewhat limping, "I couldn't let you come out here alone. I couldn't stop Three and Four from coming." The leader glanced at the twins, "You were supposed to stop him from coming." They both shook their head, showing they couldn't and went to check on Seven who they could see was in pain. "Really, I'm fine." Two explained, "The pain is only a dull throb and the dizziness- Good Lord." He cut off as he saw the body of the Fabrication Stitchpunk. The Leader responded quickly, "If it is that bad you should have stayed at the library and rested." Then he slowly looked back at him, "It certainly makes you think."

"It could've been worse." Seven pointed out as she held the twins close, they pressed their heads to her fabric and closed their optics as they relaxed. They weren't the only ones who were beginning to feel mortality at the time. Six glanced back and Eight who was behind him and smiled to him a little before turning back to stare at the form, nervously. After a few seconds he was pulled back by the other's hand, placed firmly to his front, and was moved back until he was pressed against Eight. He felt the smile return, resting back against the guard, "I love you." He then realized what he had said as Eight spoke, "What?" He was released and the Artist managed to gather enough courage to turn around and face Eight. There wasn't an angry look, just a confused one, and he looked down.

It was an accident that Six meant every word of so he knew there was no denying it. He actually had felt it for a while, perhaps even a little of it before Eight even began being nice to him, but with that thing, the Fabrication Machine, actually being alive and him having to face it again, he finally had to admit that he would have died to protect the other. Even if it meant being knocked aside and having Eight being the one saving him. "I love you…" He repeated before looking away, waiting for anything, staring at his hands and loathing how ink stained and different they were. Then Eight was touching him again and he forced his mismatched optics to look upward. As before, when he was upset in his room, Eight pressed their mouths together affectionately and Six took this positively.

After a bit, Eight pulled back, briefly, "Love you too." Then they were back together, not wanting to let go of each other again and thrilled that this incident didn't end like the last one. Of course, Five was the only one noticing this, and stared in horror, before looking away slowly. He saw Nine beside him, staring at the Talisman in his hands, and smiled before resting his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Are you okay?" Nine looked over and smiled, "Never been better." He rested his hand on Five's a laughed a relieved laugh, a light one, and Five was able to manage a short chuckle. He then looked towards Two who was staring at the Beast, obviously wanting to touch and examine it but showing restraint. "Two… Are you feeling better?... Did you find out what was wrong?"

The Inventor nodded, "Yes, for both." Then he changed subjects, "This makes you realize how surprising life is. How easily it can be given, or taken away." One looked over along with the staring Five who suddenly got a feeling of dread. "Two…Is it serious?" The younger asked and the mentor nodded, "Very. One…" He fell silent and the Leader spoke, "Everyone," He started, "I think you are aware of what's going on." Two looked confused, "One?" The leader looked at him somewhat before looking at the others, "Two and I have not been completely honest about our relationship. Mostly because I didn't think it was the appropriate time to tell that we were romantically involved and have been for a very long time, before most of you were created."

The only ones who looked shocked were Nine, None, Three, and Four while Five and Seven seemed unsurprised, because Five knew and Seven had suspicions. "We exchanged vows, which means that we are married; a human ritual to bond two humans together. This had been equally as long as…" He trailed off upon seeing something that disturbed him, "Eight! Show some restraint!" Eight finally released Six, both looking flustered, as though they didn't think anyone was there. One huffed, "I assume that none of you, save Five, knew?" Seven smirked, "Remember that night when Two fell into your lap and you two began kissing? I was there." Both males looked shocked and Eight spoke up, "Yeah, I was there too." Six nodded as to agree he was there as well.

Silence, a few seconds, and then Nine spoke, "I didn't know." He got a few strange looks as Two turned to One, "Now was that too bad?" The leader looked at him like he was insane and Two came closer, embracing hi and resting against him, "I needed that. It has been so hard for me recently." One began to remember the injury and spoke, "This is not something that can be fixed, is it?" Two smiled a little, "No, it's not." His voice held a choke in it and he pulled back, "There's something different inside me. Something that seems out of place. I now know how… How much time I have left…" One was now assuming the same thing as Five, "You cannot be saying… Are you trying to tell me that the Beast damaged you internally and you believe you don't have much time left?"

"No. I'm trying to tell you that you are going to be a father." Two was smiling especially when he watch One gain this look of utter shock. He usually tried to keep calm and keep his dignity no matter what, so Two loved seeing him look so taken aback. "The soul is in me, that's why I've been in pain, it was the actual pain of creating and sustaining it. I also have been crying on and off. I… I wanted to tell you… This was the only opportunity though." As soon as this was finished One kissed him, holding him close, and Eight murmured a short, "And I don't restrain." Then Two felt the lips slowly moving away before One disappeared altogether, only alerting what happened with a dull 'thump'. He was now lying unconscious on the ground, just lying there, and Two was now the shocked one.

"He fainted… He's never done that before." But Two's attention was now drawn to Five who came to him, looking thrilled, "You're alright! I thought you were trying to say that you were going to leave us." Then total realization took over. "A baby… Wow…" Not many of the others knew the term 'baby', but Five did, and the thought was surprising. "This has to be the greatest thing that has ever happened to me." Two spoke happily, "A baby! You couldn't imagine how surprised I was to see its little soul!" They continued talking as Two started to lift One off the ground, "The joy of being able to teach it to walk and talk will be worth the dizziness. Mind helping me carry One?" Five nodded and helped him with the leader. Seven approached with the twins to learn more about the baby.

Nine now looked back at the Talisman as he slowly followed the others. It was then that he heard his twin's soft voice. "Nine." Nine smiled to himself, "Yes None? Something wrong?" Something sounded odd about None's voice, strange, perhaps shaky. "Nine." The zippered one blinked and asked again, "Yeah None? You sound strange. Don't worry, nothing's going to-." He was cut off, "Nine." This time the word was stretched out to some length, but the Stitchpunk behind him said nothing more. "None, you have to tell me what's wrong or…" Nine looked up and saw something that made a chill run through him. Behind him came None's voice, and yet there was None, some ways ahead, with the other Stitchpunks. Nine having been fallen behind.

"_Nine." _The voice now sounded warped and Nine felt a chill as he turned around. It stood there now, staring at him with glowing red optics, and it spoke, "_**Nine.**_" Its voice was a mix of all of the Stitchpunks' being crushed together as it was mimicking them all, and it made the word spoken sound evil and twisted. Nine began to stumble back and the Fabrication Stitchpunk began to run. As soon as Nine began to run it decided to drop to the ground and began to crawl. It wasn't slow, steady crawling either. It moved so quickly that it was like a black blur that soon overtook Nine. Like with None before, Nine was in a tugging match briefly until the Talisman was ripped from his grasp. It was then placed in its port and its optics briefly widened before turning from red to green.

Nine knew what was coming and struggled, thrashing, to free himself from the grasp.

A sudden noise.

…

…

Nine felt something hit his zipper and realized it was the Talisman. Looking up, he saw a small indention coming through the Talisman slot and the Fabrication Stitchpunk's optics suddenly went dark. Looking closer he could tell that the 'indention' was the tip of the letter opener poking through. As the body fell over, he saw his twin above him, looking concerned before smiling. He smiled back as he reached to take his hand and only felt reassured when he felt the other's grip. They stood together and ignored the body of the Fabrication Stitchpunk as they followed the others, still ahead though no somewhat aware that something had occurred. The two decided to not speak and stayed silent on the walk back to the Library.

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**Mable: End of Chapter. This is technically the last chapter, save the Epilogue, and I hope everyone enjoyed the run, I know I did. I'd like to congratulate PoppyECM.6-13 for guessing Two's condition; I didn't say anything previously because I didn't want to spoil. : ) I hope everyone enjoyed! The next, and last, chapter will be up soon!**


	13. Chapter Twelve: Remembered

**Mable: The Epilogue, last chapter, taking place sometime after the last chapter. I can't believe this is the end of Forgotten… It feels like forever ago that I began to write it. Anyway I have some special thanks for everyone.**

**First for xXBroken-Wings-ForeverXx and 27's Fury; you two have inspired and reassured me through many of my fics. This one is no exception and I couldn't have done it without you.**

**I would like to thank SkullWitch57, PoppyECM.6-13, Athena Eudialyte Vewlpoer, worldwidegirl-16, BXE, and any anonymous reviewers for reviewing the fic and reading, but mostly for enjoying. To see the fic actually being liked was the ultimate gift anyone could give, thank you for putting up with me. I would like to also thank anyone who read at all, even if not reviewing.**

**I guess that is it… This is it… Last chapter… I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

_**Forgotten**_

_Chapter Twelve: Remembered_

It felt like forever since they had gotten word of what was happening. Nine sat on the edge of the Sanctuary's platform and stared down into the library as he waited for what was to come relatively soon with a very solemn look. Five reassured him, but seemed nervous as well, and he wished that the healer was with him now. Beside him was his brother who stared as well, looking much more tired. He actually fell against his brother and fell asleep numerous times before now and managed to straighten himself every time. Looking back, Nine could see that the others looked just as tired as they were. Nobody could sleep when knowing what was going on in the other room. Not when everyone knew that this was the only thing they could possibly do. Nine tried to block out any bad thoughts and instead tried to keep his mind busy.

The twins were both asleep beside Seven who stroked their heads while trying to stay awake. She was trying to suppress a yawn at that second as well and managed to succeed before pulling the younger ones closer. Their heads rolled onto her and they didn't even respond to being moved. Eight was as close to sleep as possible and struggled to stay awake while Six, who was resting against his front, was able to awaken quickly and seemed wide awake. Recently he was getting full nights of sleep which meant that it was easier to adjust to a day when he got abruptly awoke; it wasn't hard for him, but it was for Eight who he tried to convince to get some sleep. The guard denied it and instead just waited for something to happen. All of them were waiting for anything but had been very aware that eventually something would occur.

Then they all heard it at once and Nine perked up. A cry, shrill, that sounded nearly like a scream. However, it wasn't a familiar one; it was too loud and high pitched. The shrill cry began to soften over a few seconds before it was no longer hearable. Nine stood and None fell over before looking back as well. They just stayed like that for a few minutes before suddenly Five appeared, looking flustered, but looking thrilled as well. He was smiling incredibly wide and knew the others were waiting for an answer. He ignored his normal shyness that occurred when everyone stared at him and spoke quickly, "It's done." The others got the meaning and all seemed relieved, a few letting out exhales that they were holding in. Nine came closer to ask more, "Is everything alright?" Five gave his answer in stating another fact, "It's a boy."

It took a second, but Nine soon found himself smiling just as wide before being knocked aside by Eight. Funny, the guard knocked Nine to the side like he was barreling through, yet he stopped himself long enough to let Six by. It was the Artist who was the first one to make it to the room while the others sort of lingered in the hallway to see if they were allowed in yet. He spoke up with his voice a mere whisper, "Two? One?" They were together; One was holding Two who was laying on the cot holding some sort of bundled up object. It was a shock for Six to see One smiling period, let alone how happy he looked. The leader then actually beckoned him over while Two glanced up for only a second before looking back at the bundle.

Six came closer and the bundle was opened so that he could see what they were holding. It was so small and its hands were clenched into fists as it looked upwards at its parents with an innocent look of new life. Six was allowed to come quite close, probably from One's elated mood, and he wiped his hand off on the blanket before reaching forward. He decided to poke at one of the fists to get some sort of reaction and received quite a surprise when the hand opened and closed on his pen tipped finger. It squeezed the metal and looked at Six, but didn't seem to focus on him. "He can't see very well yet. Lean in a bit closer." Two encouraged and Six did as suggested. He could tell the baby hadn't seen him until then by the way its optics suddenly widened.

Once they returned to normal, Six finally could tell that they were slanted like One's, and could clearly tell that One was proud. That was when Eight started to slowly lean into the room, "Boss?" He was beckoned as well, "Yes, yes, come in." Eight headed into the room behind the striped one and looked at what Six was touching. Slowly and cautiously, the others started to move into the room and were all amazed by the little creature before them. "What's its name?" None asked and Two responded as he stroked the little one's head, "Twenty-One." The name suited him and everyone seemed to be pleased with having him named it. They continued to quietly flock around the new Stitchpunk to see it. "Congratulations." Seven whispered, "He's a beautiful baby."

Two nodded in agreement, tiredly, looking lovingly at his child, "He is a blessing." Both him and One were feeling very sentimental at this time and the leader reached out to caress his son, "He is absolutely perfect." The little one closed its optics and suddenly One turned back to normal, making a vigorous waving gesture to tell the others to leave. They did, exhausted, but all of them were glad they got to see their new arrival. "You got to help take it out, right?" Nine asked Five as they headed into the hall. The healer shrugged a bit, "One did most of it. I just stood there and held Two's hand." Nine insisted, "You did more than that, I'm sure." Now he put his arm around Five's shoulders. It suddenly grew a bit warm between the two, and Five suddenly stuttered out an answer, "I- Not really- Maybe a little…"

None still was looking back down the hall at the room he just exited, "I wish I could've seen him longer." His twin spoke back to him, "Two will probably let us see him tomorrow." The other zippered male smiled at this and followed him and his best friend. He sort of noticed how Five and Nine had been touching each other more than usual recently. Not friendly touches either, None could tell that this strange petting held other feelings, and it confused him. Especially now as Nine rested his head against Five's and the healer didn't pull away, both smiling. At the same time, as long as Nine and Five were happy then None was happy for them as well. He looked at the rest of his family now, watching most of them disappear into their rooms to sleep, and felt warmth inside.

Seven was carrying an exhausted Four while leading Three by the hand, she being more awake than her own twin. She would probably head to her own room once they were safe and tucked in. Then he glanced quick enough to see Eight enter his room and, seeing that Six was gone, assumed he had already disappeared inside as they shared a room now. He didn't understand why they did this except they seemed like close friends. He was unaware of what their relationship actually was. Then he decided to quickly headed back to the new Workshop for one last look of the baby. Nobody seemed to have really moved; One was still holding Two who had fallen asleep and who still held the baby in his grasp. Twenty-One was also asleep. One though was still awake and was still smiling wider than he ever had before.

Then None headed back after his brother and friend. Nine was waiting at the door to the room all three of them shared and led his twin inside. The New Sanctuary was built quickly in preparation for the upcoming arrival of the new Stitchpunk, so there wasn't time to make many rooms, so for now all three had to share. Nine kept the curtain open to let None in and the twin hurried to his bed to lie down. He was so tired and after a brief 'goodnight', he watched as both Five and Nine fell asleep in their own beds. Then None climbed back out of the bed. Tonight he knew he needed something extra and quickly climbed into his brother's bed. Moving closer he relaxed as he remembered sleeping alone in the First Room. That was over now, though. It was all a piece of the past. Instead he decided to think about how happy he was to have his family. He was no longer forgotten.

Tomorrow was going to be another day to live the life of someone who had been remembered.

_**FIN**_

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**Mable: It's done. Don't expect a sequel. I'll write more fics, especially 9 ones, but I don't plan to make a sequel to this. Maybe if One leapt out of a mirror and demanded me to I would, after I woke from my fainting spell, and fixed the broken coffee table I landed on. I probably would need to go to the hospital too as to get the shards of wood and glass out of my back. :D I hope everyone enjoyed as much as I did writing it. Thank you for your time, please stay tuned for my next fic that is being posted at some point. Thank you for reading, again, I hope you enjoyed!**


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